“They wanted to embarrass him” - Mike Francesa calls out Jets for ugly ending with Aaron Rodgers

Sports analyst Mike Francesca isn't a fan of how the New York Jets parted ways with Aaron Rodgers. On Feb. 13, they decided to move on from the veteran quarterback after two years.

Rodgers tore his Achilles in his first game with the team in 2023, and last season, they failed to make the playoffs. New York then hired Aaron Glenn to be its next coach and he announced they would be moving on from him.

However, Francesca thinks the way the Jets did it was to try and embarrass Rodgers.

“I almost got the idea that, yes, they parted ways with him, but they wanted to embarrass him too if they could,” Francesa said on Thursday, via 'The Mike Francesca Podcast.' “The problem is, how much can you embarrass a guy who is going to Canton on roller skates?

“Would he have agreed to all the things they supposedly hammered at him and made sure that got leaked to hammer at him to try and get their pound of flesh and embarrass him? Except, when you’re the Jets and you have been bums and been as bad as any organization can be for so long, you can’t embarrass a quarterback of his ilk. There’s no way! He’s in a different place! He’s untouchable in the world of football compared to you.”

Francesca referenced The Athletic article that came out which mentioned that New York wanted Rodgers to stop appearing on "The Pat McAfee Show" and attend all mandatory practices throughout the year and offseason.

Francesca believes that was leaked from the Jets to try and embarrass Rodgers, instead of just releasing him and saying they want to go in a different direction.

Mike Francesca says the Jets won't be good in 2025

Along with the team wanting to embarrass Aaron Rodgers, Mike Francesca also believes the move doesn't make sense.

He thinks Rodgers is the Jets' best option at QB and that it wasn't a good decision for New York to move on from him.

"But not wanting him was cutting your nose off to spite your face," Francesca said. "You can’t find someone who has what Aaron Rodgers has. And he still wanted to play! It was a dumb, dumb, dumb decision. They won’t be any good next year.”

Rodgers went 368-for-584 for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2024.