There was a point in the offseason — a much simpler time, when ideas were currency and execution meant nothing — that the Jets hoped all roads would lead to Aaron Rodgers.
That time has long passed. Now, they need all roads to lead to Rodgers.
Because after the first day of the pre-free agency tampering period, Jimmy Garoppolo has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Raiders. Mike White, the Jets’ former backup, is poised to depart for Miami.
The quarterback market keeps dwindling, Gang Green keeps waiting and Rodgers … well, Rodgers keeps doing what he has always done.
And everyone around the situation, as Pat McAfee described it on his show Monday, has no idea “what the hell is going on.”
Monday was supposed to be the pivotal day, the start of the two-day legal tampering period ahead of Wednesday’s official start to free agency, when — in the ideal scenario — Rodgers revealed his decision and both the Jets and Packers could move on with their offseasons.
Instead, the hours before noon crept closer without any indications.
9 a.m. 10 a.m. 11 a.m. Then, the update from ESPN’s Rob Demovsky at 11:01 that broke the silence: “We’re an hour away from the start of the free agent negotiating period, and I’m told neither the Packers nor the Jets know what Aaron Rodgers is going to do.”
Talk about a barrier. The problem, though, is that it hasn’t moved in six weeks. 9 p.m. 10 p.m. 11 p.m. Midnight.
It ended up being a pivotal day for so many other franchises, such as the Bears, who snagged a pair of coveted free-agent linebackers: T.J. Edwards from the Eagles and Tremaine Edmunds from the Bills. Or the Raiders, who saw their backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, a potential starting option for 2023, bolt for the busy Broncos, but then rebounded by reuniting Garoppolo with former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
The Giants bolstered the defense by reaching agreements with former Colts inside linebacker Bobby Okereke (four years, $40 million) and former Buccaneers lineman Rakeem Nuñez-Roches (three years, $12 million).
The Jets did have a productive weekend, inking a three-year extension with linebacker Quincy Williams worth $18 million. But their most pivotal decisions — quarterback, Quinnen Williams — and the ones that could weigh on head coach Robert Saleh and general manager the most if the duo mess them up, still loom.
If Rodgers doesn’t work out, or if the Jets keep waiting, the next-best scenarios aren’t exactly so great anymore.
There’s no more Derek Carr, who visited with the Jets before signing with the Saints. There’s no more Garoppolo. Even Jameis Winston — in case your mind went there — came off the board, re-signing with the Saints as Carr’s backup.
The Jets went all-in on Rodgers, even flying to California in owner Woody Johnson’s plane, but they can only wait so long.
As The Post’s Ryan Dunleavy noted, the next tier of quarterbacks include names such as Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz, Jacoby Brisstett and Baker Mayfield.
Would Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall eagerly tweet about their arrival?
The Jets’ boldest rebound move would be to try to insert themselves into the Lamar Jackson sweepstakes. That would involve parting with more assets than in any Rodgers deal, but, hey, Jets players might take to social media for Jackson.
There are so many moving parts at this point, but the one that the Jets need to move the most keeps standing stagnant. They’ve tailored their entire offseason around Rodgers, allowing him the time, and the darkness retreat, to consider his next step. They’ve recognized how Rodgers, even at age 39, lifts their floor and ceiling, turning them into a playoff — and, even, division — contender.
They knew what would happen if everything led to Rodgers and the move paid off.
But at this point, all roads just can’t lead back to Zach Wilson.
Today’s back page
Read more:
⚾ Legendary Yankees character Joe Pepitone dead at 82
⚾ Mets planning to shut down Jose Quintana for three months
⚾ USA back in good shape to advance in WBC after mercy-rule rout of Canada
🏀 Grizzlies’ Ja Morant out indefinitely after entering counseling program
Maybe their season isn’t over …
The Nets’ season was supposed to end Feb. 9, the day of the trade deadline, and for a while, it looked as if that was the case.
They lost two of their first three games without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant as members of the organization. Then, that stretch swelled into six of eight.
It appeared the most logical scenario — that the Knicks would overtake the Nets for the Eastern Conference’s No. 5 seed — was also the most likely.
Five wins in the Nets’ past six games has changed that outlook, though.
Their season wasn’t over. It just had a new beginning, and after four new starters meshed together, the result has started to take form.
Maybe they didn’t start as strong defensively as they appeared on paper. Maybe there’s no superstar.
Maybe that’s OK. The Nets have certainly made it seem like that’s the case.
Since March 3, they have the NBA’s second-best team defensive rating (105.7), according to NBA.com. Only the Cavaliers, comfortably in the Eastern Conference’s fourth spot, have been better.
The Nets haven’t allowed a team to top 125 points during that span — something that happened three times in the first eight games post-deadline.
Among players who have played in five games since March 3, sixth man Royce O’Neale has the NBA’s fourth-best individual defensive rating. Cameron Johnson sits in 11th.
Those weren’t even the two players who appeared to have the most defensive upside when joining the Nets — that label went to Dorian Finney-Smith and Mikal Bridges.
While Kevin Durant could miss the remainder of the regular season after suffering an ankle injury when slipping on the court during warmups for his Suns home debut and Kyrie Irving’s reeling Mavericks have lost nine of 14 games since the trade, the Nets played themselves right back onto solid playoff footing.
The Nets play 10 of their final 13 at home after Tuesday night’s visit to Oklahoma City. Their superstars are gone, but their playoff prospects sure aren’t.
Today’s NCAA Tournament picks
The men’s NCAA tournament tips off Tuesday night with two First Four games. Here’s an exclusive preview of the betting picks from college basketball expert Howie Hoops:
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (-3.5) over Southeast Missouri State … 6:40 p.m. ET, truTV
Pittsburgh (+1.5) over Mississippi State … 9:10 p.m. ET, truTV
Bettering Rams
Anthony Grant had a message for Keith Urgo when Dayton traveled to Fordham on Jan. 10.
In Grant’s first season with the Flyers in 2017-18, Fordham won nine games. The year before Urgo was hired as an assistant, in 2020-21, the Rams won two.
The program had no traction, and then a year after it started to find some stability under new head coach Kyle Neptune, he bolted for Villanova’s vacancy.
So by the time Urgo, a first-year head coach, brought the Rams into the pivotal Atlantic 10 conference matchup against Dayton with a 13-3 record, Grant noticed what had transpired at the Rose Hill gym.
He told Urgo that night that what “he was doing with that group was special,” Grant recalled after the Flyers eliminated Fordham from the conference tournament Saturday at Barclays Center.
“Those guys went out this year and had a heck of a year,” Grant added of the Rams, who finished with a 25-8 record.
Urgo realized his group was special a few days after that mid-season Dayton loss. Antrell Charlton hit a last-second jumper to beat La Salle on Jan. 14, the first victory in what turned out to be a five-game winning streak.
Urgo noticed the tenor of huddles change, that late-game conversations were calm and his players didn’t consider any outcome other than winning.
“I don’t think that’s been a part of Fordham’s DNA, as far as their basketball program, in years,” Urgo said.
That’s why the press conference following the Rams’ season-ending loss featured optimism. The phrase “back on the map” was used without exaggeration, along with the suggestion that the program will be in good hands with a player such as freshman guard Will Richardson, who broke into the starting lineup over the final half of the season.
Urgo also pitched to reporters, or to any player who will catch that snippet of his most recent press conference, that Khalid Moore — who won an ACC title at Georgia Tech before transferring to Fordham, near his hometown of Elmont, for a final college season — serves as a model for the Rams’ coaching staff in developing players out of the transfer portal, even those who started at high-major programs.
“And if you want to potentially look at a place to come home to or transfer to, he’s an example of great success,” Urgo said.
An NIT appearance or run won’t happen this year. (The NIT semifinals and championship, by the way, isn’t local at Madison Square Garden this year, so maybe it’s not a big loss.) But the present and future of Fordham’s program won’t be defined by the downfalls of the past anymore.
Urgo — and the percentage of the 10,156 in attendance Saturday donning Fordham colors — has made that much clear. This season’s run doesn’t have to be an anomaly for the Rams.
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