Tom Brady says move to Jets could 'invigorate' Aaron Rodgers: 'He's going to do a great job'

06-02-2023
4 min read
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Tom Brady knows a thing or two about reinvigorating his career with a new team.

The seven-time Super Bowl winner earned his seventh and final Lombardi Trophy with the Buccaneers in 2020 after spending the first 20 years of his Hall of Fame career with the Patriots. He also had some of his best seasons, statistically speaking, in his three-year stint in Tampa Bay.

Now Brady thinks Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, now the oldest active QB in the league, can experience a similar revival in New York after he spent 18 years with the Packers. The Hall of Fame QB said as much in interviews he conducted with various media outlets on Thursday.

"I think he’s going to do a great job," Brady told Rich Eisen on Thursday. "He’s a tremendous player, great competitor, and I think this kind of breathes a lot of fresh air and invigoration into going to a different team and wanting to prove yourself all over again.

"And I think we all have that spirit about us, that when we started off in the NFL we had something to prove. We wanted to go on out there and the team that drafted us. … God there was a lot of freshness to it and you took it and really attacked it. And I see that in him too, being in New York."

MORE: Aaron Rodgers explains fallout with Packers, GM Brian Gutekunst

Brady said another facet to Rodgers' potential success is the continuity the Jets have afforded him.

New York not only has hired former Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to the same position — Green Bay had three straight 13-win seasons with him from 2019-21 — but also added Rodgers' former teammates in receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, as well as offensive tackle Billy Turner.

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The familiarity Rodgers has with those players and Hackett, Brady said, could help his transition to New York.

"Continuity in sports and in general is very important," Brady told Yahoo Sports on Thursday. “Continuity can create a margin of error that’s difficult for other teams to catch if you do the right thing.

"I think him choosing that organization and facilitating that trade could possibly allow him to be very successful,” Brady added. "He’s familiar with the plays. Now he’s got to get used to the players which shouldn’t take him a long time because he’s played with a lot of players over time."

MORE: How Aaron Rodgers trade to the Jets influenced NFL schedule, prime-time slate

Brady added that the young receiving corps, which includes 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson, can be helpful for the four-time MVP. 

Brady added a caveat to his projections for Rodgers, saying he is stepping into one of the more competitive divisions in the NFL in the AFC East. BetMGM currently lists the Bills as having the third-best odds to win Super Bowl 58, at +800. The Jets are tied for sixth in the NFL at +1600; the Dolphins are listed at +2500, and the Patriots at +5000.

"We’re a long way from the finish, we’re not even at the starting line," Brady told Yahoo. "But a lot of teams think they’re better than they are right now. Some think they’re worse than they are right now. That’s just the reality of life in the NFL.

"That’s why we all watch: because none of it’s very expected."