Trey Wingo, Pro Football Network

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Because he had all the information if you just would have listened and trusted Trey Wingo on this entire Aaron Rodgers situation. And Trey joins us right now. Trey, appreciate the time. How are you? Good, man. Always good to talk to you, Zach. How are you?

Well, I'm doing fantastic. So you had this entire story, so now we'll ask you when it will be official. How long do you think it's going to take for the Jetson and the Packers to figure this out now? Officially hearing it from Rodgers that he intends to play for the Jets this year. Yeah, everybody's saying, well the Packers can drag this out as long as they want and all this kind of stuff.

And the question is, why? Why would they want to do that? They've been ready to move on from Aaron for about a year, maybe even a little more. And yeah, they have leverage and all that kind of stuff. And the Jets have basically gone what I like to call open kimono in these negotiations, which is, here's everything. But it's in the best interest of both the Packers and the Jets just to get this deal done. And I think it's a lot closer than people think it is because he's ready to go. They're ready for him to go. And the Jets obviously could not be more thirsty to have him. Do you think it will be an outright one for Rodgers with no conditions? Or how do you think the compensation will actually look like when it's agreed upon? I would be surprised if it was a one or more than a one.

But look, there are smarter people that may even know the answer to that question. So the bottom line is the Jets have to have this. The genie can't go back in the bottle now. It's all in. Aaron wants to play there.

You said you'll do anything you take to get him. I don't know what, but I think it's going to be faster than you think. And the reason why I say that is the same sources that were telling me what was going to happen were saying they were hearing Rodgers was going to be in New York by next week. So it's in everybody's interest to move on as quickly as possible. And by the way, the Packers, you know, I've heard people say the Packers can drag this thing out till September if they wanted to. Well, that does them no good. They need draft picks. They want to get draft picks for this to help Jordan Love and the rest of the team. So it doesn't behoove the Packers in any way, shape, or form to drag this past the draft, or much longer, because then other things might be happening where other teams might be picking up more draft picks. So it makes more sense for the Packers, as much as the Jets, to get this done quicker rather than longer. And if the Packers are really going to go nowhere in these negotiations, they just want to wait and wait and wait. If I was Rodgers, Trey Wingo, whenever the offseason program begins, I would just show up, and then that becomes a really awkward situation and a big distraction. Right. Exactly. So, I mean, like, you can make the argument the Packers have all the leverage, but that leverage comes with a cost.

And what is that cost? The cost would be not getting picks that you can use in this year's draft to try and make your team better in what is going to be a very competitive, I believe, NFC North now with the way this thing is shaping out. And then, you know, how much of a distraction, how much do you want to have other players answer the question about Aaron Rodgers every day?

Like, how often do you want that to happen once we get into, you know, minicamps and all this kind of stuff? So, yeah, if you're the Packers, you can drag this out as long as you want, but I don't see how that helps you in the long run. Just listening to Rodgers on McAfee yesterday, Trey Wingo, it sounded like on both sides the communication on this has been really bad. If they would have communicated better, do you think there would have ever been an end goal, if you want to say, of Rodgers actually returning to Green Bay this year?

No, I don't think so, for two reasons. One, it goes way beyond communication recently. All this really started in January of 2018, and that's when the Packers, named Brian Gutenkust as their new general manager, Aaron Rodgers wanted another person to get that job. And then they fired the quarterback coach that Aaron had a lot of success with. So all of this stuff, and, you know, people think it started with Jordan Love, the drafting of Jordan Love, and that certainly did not help. Let's be 100% clear. But there was simmering bad blood feud issues between the Packers and Aaron Rodgers dating back to the end of the 2017 season, where in 2018, they took a general manager that he was hoping another guy would get, and then they fired his quarterback coach, who, you know, they had a really good relationship. They didn't give him a reason why they fired the quarterback coach.

And I think that was really the precursor for this. And then he goes out and does what he does, and you take Jordan Love in the first round. You move up to take Jordan Love. Not only do they stay in their position, you move up to take Jordan Love. And, you know, I talked to Andrew Brandt about this a long time, who was a former Packers vice president, and, you know, signed a contract that got Aaron Rodgers there.

This thing has been simmering for a long, long time. And the plan always was to move on to Jordan Love in 2023, because let's be honest, this is year four for Jordan Love as a first-round draft pick. He's played, what, one start and sporadically? You need to find out what he is. You need to find out whether or not he's your guy. Are you going to pick up the fifth-year option arm? Are you going to do these things with him?

The only way you can find that is by playing him and dedicating all your resources to him in 2023. Trey Wingo here with us. Without knowing how the rest of the offseason will play on out with other trades and free agency and the draft, what are your expectations for the Jets and the Packers now, assuming this does get done with Rodgers winding up with the Jets and then Jordan Love starting week one for the Packers?

All right. Let's start with the Jets, right? And I feel like now everyone's talking about the AFC East the way they talked about the AFC West a year ago.

It's going to be an incredible division. Russell Wilson to Denver. Devante Adams and Chandler Jones to the Raiders. Khalil Mack to the Chargers.

Oh, what's going to happen? Well, who had the best quarterback? And that would be Patrick Mahomes.

Swept the division, second Super Bowl, second MVP. The Chiefs, excuse me, the Dolphins have made great moves getting Jalen Ramsey. And if two is healthy, they're going to be great. Obviously, the Jets with Aaron Rodgers will be vastly improved. Although that offensive line is still a problem for the Jets, right? I think they're going to need three or maybe four new starters from last season on that offensive line. That's problematic if you're bringing in a new quarterback. And then the Patriots just signed Juju Smith-Schuster.

We hear they might be in on Mike Kisecki. And then, of course, there's Buffalo. Buffalo to me is still the team to beat in the AFC East. Because even with Aaron Rodgers there, I believe they have the best quarterback in the division.

And that's Josh Allen. When you look at some of the other quarterback moves this offseason, Trey Wingo, Jimmy G winding up with the Raiders. And then Derek Carr winding up with the Saints. Is there optimism for the Raiders heading into this year and for the Saints? It's like kind of, you expect them probably to win that division, but nothing really more than that. Well, let's start with the Raiders, right? So you lose Derek Carr, you trade Darren Waller, and you bring in Jimmy Garoppolo. I'm going to say at best, that's a push at the quarterback position. I mean, at best.

At best, it's a push. Now, there is some familiarity, obviously, between Josh McDaniels and Jimmy G from that time into it. There's no question about that.

But you just gave away one of your best weapons. And Jimmy G won a lot of games in San Francisco where he had George Kittle at a tight end. And a smothering, suffocating defense. Well, I don't think the words smothering and suffocating and defense have been used to describe the Raiders since the 70s.

Okay. Since Derek Carr was drafted in 2014, the Raiders over that time frame are statistically 31st, 32nd, or 30th in almost every important defensive category. Like, you can get rid of Derek Carr, but Derek Carr wasn't your problem, man.

Your problem was your defense. And is Josh Jacobs coming back? Like, he had a record-setting season. What's the deal with him? They declined to pick up his fifth-year option. Remember, they played him in the Hall of Fame game last year. That's how far down the depth charts he had fallen, and he produced an unbelievable season.

Are you going to bring him back? What's going on there? I don't see the Raiders better. I think you can make a logical case.

They're actually worse with what's happened this offseason. And then for the Saints, is it just simply that they'll win the division and nothing more than that? You know, that's a great question.

Let me ask you this. Assume Aaron Rodgers goes to the Jets, and I believe this will happen. Can you name me the top three quarterbacks in the NFC?

It's a great question. Jalen Hurts is definitely number one to me. Number one. And then after that... Kirk Cousins?

That's where I was going to go. I was going to say Kirk Cousins, and then it's probably Dak. When we're talking about the top five quarterbacks in the NFC, Trey, you could make a case for Geno Smith and Jared Goff as well.

Yeah, it's remarkable. I don't think I've ever seen a greater disparity in the two conferences in terms of the top-tier quarterbacks in the AFC and the top quarterbacks in the NFC. I mean, the AFC has this in a landslide. And I'll say this about Jalen. Like, he's going to have... There are changes now, right? Miles Sanders is gone. His offensive coordinator is gone. Jalen played really well all season long. But there are going to be changes that they're going to have to deal with.

And so they'll have to adjust to that. Jalen, by far, is number one. This is why I think a Derek Carr-led Saints team has a chance. Not only do they get Derek Carr, they got Jamal Williams, who was a touchdown machine last year for the Detroit Lions. They pick up Colin Saunders, who had, by the way, had the only sack in Super Bowl 57.

Colin Saunders had the only sack in Super Bowl 57. And they have a good defense already. You bring in, you know, that Michael Thomas is coming back on a one-year deal. I think the Saints are clearly right now the team to beat in the NFC South. And the rest of the NFC is like, who knows? Last thing I'll ask you, Trey, is Lamar Jackson on the Ravens week one? I don't know, man.

This is such a mess. And the curious thing I would ask is why were the Ravens front office so confident what the market would be for Lamar Jackson? I find that very interesting, right?

No one likes to toss around the C-word, collusion. But it was March 29th, 2022, a year ago almost, when the contract for Deshaun Watson fell in everybody's lap from the Cleveland Browns. The first person to speak publicly about how bad that contract was was Ravens owner Steve Vachotti. And I just find it very interesting that a player in his prime at the age of 26, not 36, he's 26, a former NFL MVP who's taken teams to Super Bowls multiple times, rather playoffs multiple times in one playoff game. You're telling me there's no market for that guy? I find that very interesting.

Just for you personally, what was this last week like? Because your information was right, you were confident it was right, but then when it doesn't happen or you don't hear anything from Rodgers right away, you know how social media ends up going down. Look, you know, I'm sort of in a way where I don't really care.

I mean, say whatever you want. I mean, I knew the information was solid. It's the same sources that told me that if Randall Cobb doesn't sign in 2021, he's not going back there. I mean, it was the same person that told me all the other stuff that happened around the 2021 draft, the same people, rather. So I knew the information was good.

It was just a matter of letting it play out. Well, Trey, we always appreciate the time. Thanks so much for doing this. You got it, Zach. Anytime, buddy. Always good to talk to you. Learn more at goalie.com today.