Former Jets QB shares warning for Aaron Rodgers, others

Former New York Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason still has ties to the organization and suggested during Thursday's edition of the WFAN "Boomer and Gio" program that team owner Woody Johnson could completely clean house if general manager Joe Douglas, head coach Robert Saleh and veteran signal-caller Aaron Rodgers don't win big next season. 

"This is gonna be the most important offseason for the Jets and the people that are working over there," Esiason explained, as shared by Ryan Chichester of Audacy. "If they go and have another awful year, then Woody Johnson is gonna pull the plug and go in a different direction, and it will be the end of Aaron Rodgers here." 

The Jets were widely advertised as Super Bowl contenders after they acquired Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers last spring. While Rodgers accepted a pay cut to help the organization build around him through at least 2024, he suffered a torn Achilles in the 2023 regular-season opener that cost him the remainder of the campaign and sunk New York's championship hopes. 

The Jets ultimately finished Week 18 at 7-10. 

Douglas officially joined the Jets in June 2019, and Saleh has a record of 18-33 across his three seasons with the club. Per Brian Costello of the New York Post, Douglas told reporters at the NFL scouting combine on Wednesday he and others within the organization are "not stressed" even though Johnson said ahead of Super Bowl LVIII that "we have to produce this year." 

Esiason indicated Douglas should feel his seat growing warmer with each day. 

"Everybody’s job is on the line," Esiason added during the show segment. 

Rodgers may be extra motivated to prove doubters and alleged haters wrong later this year, but the harsh truth of the matter is that he turned 40 years old this past December and is coming off the type of injury that can shorten the careers of younger players at the position. 

Johnson declined earlier this month to publicly issue a playoff mandate for Saleh and Douglas, but it's clear Esiason believes the owner will blow things up if the longest active playoff drought among the four major North American sports leagues continues for another year.