As Aaron Rodgers mulls future, Jets running out of time on quarterback decision

INDIANAPOLIS — Joe Douglas is ready. He let the world know the moment the Jets season ended he planned to add a veteran quarterback. Now appears the time he’d prefer to make that move official.

“Sooner rather than later,” were his exact words from the NFL Scouting Combine on Monday. He added the Jets are ready to “pull the trigger” when the opportunity presents itself. The issue, though, is one out of the hands of New York’s GM.

Aaron Rodgers is clearly atop the Jets wish list — as any four-time MVP should be. Derek Carr falls just behind him. But Carr is available now. Rodgers, a member of the Packers, can only be acquired via trade. Normally that’s not an issue, but Rodgers is currently ghosting Packers coach Matt LaFleur and GM Brian Gutekunst. Green Bay has no idea whether he wants a change of scenery, retirement, or to return to Green Bay.

Douglas must decide whether the chance of potentially getting Rodgers is better than signing Carr right now.

And that time is coming.

“It’s hard to put an exact timetable,” Douglas said. “When a decision is ready to be made I feel very strongly we’re going to make the right decision for the Jets.”

Carr traveled to Florham Park to meet with the Jets two weeks ago. Things went quite well, Douglas said. “Fantastic,” actually. The 31-year-old left a strong impression with all those he touched base with. Carr is currently en route to Indianapolis where he will, once again, meet with the Jets along with other teams (Saints, Panthers, more). Carr is taking his own time in deciding where he wants to play, but wants to have a deal done before free agency begins, sources told SNY last week. That means March 13th — the first day of the legal tampering period.

The Jets believe they are a contender within the AFC with Carr under center. That makes sense. Even in the face of relenting dysfunction, Carr developed into one of the league’s better passers during his nine seasons playing for the Raiders. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler who has four times thrown for over 4,000 yards. Joe Namath, who last played for the Jets in 1976, is the only player in franchise history to accomplish that same feat. Namath did so in 1967.

In almost every other year that’s good enough. Just think: If Carr was able to do all of that in Oakland and Las Vegas, imagine what he could do with players like Elijah Moore and Garrett Wilson at wideout, and a running game led by Breece Hall? Now pair that offense with a defense that the Jets internally believe is championship-level.

But this isn’t every year. While Carr is there, the possibility of Rodgers is, too. And that possibility is intoxicatingly tantalizing.

“This is the season where we talk to a lot of [general managers] and talk about a lot of different scenarios, and a lot of different trades,” Douglas said when asked if he’s phoned the Packers. “Not just quarterbacks. I’ve had a lot of productive discussions with multiple [GMs] around the league.”

Carr is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL. Rodgers is one of the best quarterbacks to ever walk the Earth. Last season might have been one of the worst of Rodgers’ career … and he still threw for 3,695 yards with 26 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. He completed 64.6 percent of his passes and had a quarterback rating of 91.1. He played most of the season with a bum thumb he hurt against the Giants in Week 5.

Most around the NFL believe Rodgers, who turned 39 in December, is still the player who won back-to-back MVP awards the two years prior. Get him healthy and he’ll return to form. If that’s true — and the Jets are among the teams who believe it is — then you’re not talking about competing within the conference. The Jets would be a favorite for a Super Bowl title.

That potential reality has been worth the wait. But enough’s enough.

Don’t let Rodgers fool you: He absolutely loves the attention he’s been receiving the last few weeks. The entire NFL world has followed his offseason to this point. His (sometimes) weekly appearances on The Pat McAfee Show were must-listen. His trip in-and-out of the darkness was documented intensely. The assumption was that this week would be the one Rodgers filled the world in on what he wanted (retired, play for another team, return to the Packers), and the Packers would grant his wish.

Only it hasn’t happened. McAfee said his texts to Rodgers are going unanswered. Gutekunst said at the combine he hasn’t heard from him. LaFleur hasn’t, either. There’s no indication when that will change. Maybe it will happen this week. Maybe it won’t. As the quarterback has made very clear: Aaron Rodgers is the only person who knows what Aaron Rodgers is going to do.

That’s fine. Rodgers is completely within his right to take as long as he wants before determining his football future. He just can’t expect the Jets to wait much longer because they can’t wait much longer.

“We feel like when it’s time to make the right decision, when everyone goes through their process,” Douglas said. “We’re going to make the best decision for the Jets.”

There are other veteran quarterbacks available outside Carr and Rodgers. The Jets tasked staffers with studying nearly two dozen options. Jimmy Garoppolo could work. The Jets are higher on Ryan Tannehill than some want to believe. But neither Garoppolo or Tannehill are in the same class as Rodgers and Carr.

The truth is that missing out on both Rodgers and Carr would make this offseason a failure for the Jets. The Jets need to come away with one. The longer Rogers takes, the more likely it is the Jets miss on both.

Again: The timer hasn’t gone off yet. The Jets can still afford to wait out this week. They might be able to stretch it one more week. But is that even worth it?

At some point what you can have takes precedence over what you could.

The Jets are just about there.