The New York Jets announced they’d be parting ways with Aaron Rodgers, but neither his nor the franchise’s future has been sorted since. “Breakfast Ball” co-host Craig Carton pitched a potential homecoming for the Bay Arena native with the San Francisco 49ers that’d cause collateral damage – most notably, Brock Purdy ending up on the Cleveland Browns.
Carton believes the former Iowa State star could net the Niners disgruntled Browns EDGE Myles Garrett, who’s requested a trade from the team’s front office, and that’d allow Cleveland to trade their No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft to shore up other areas on their depth chart.
“Aaron Rodgers will be the starting quarterback next year of the San Francisco 49ers,” Carton said on a recent episode. “I’ve got this entire thing worked out.
“Aaron Rodgers goes to San Francisco, Brock Purdy gets traded to the Cleveland Browns for Myles Garrett and that affords Cleveland the opportunity to then trade the No. 2 pick for a bevy of picks to fill out other holes they have on their roster.”
NBC Sports Boston’s Logan Reardon isn’t sold on the idea, believing San Francisco wouldn’t risk replacing Purdy with a player way past his prime like Rodgers.
“The 49ers famously passed on Rodgers for Alex Smith with the No. 1 pick back in 2005,” Reardon wrote. “Twenty years later, could San Francisco bring the Bay Area kid home? Brock Purdy is extension-eligible with one year left on his rookie deal. Maybe, just maybe, the 49ers think this team needs a veteran QB to get over the hump?
“If this were five years ago, the 49ers would be all over it. But Rodgers hasn’t played as well as Purdy in years. Even though the team will have to pay up to re-sign him, it beats the alternative of signing Rodgers for a year or two and then starting over again. The only way that Rodgers realistically goes to the 49ers is if he’s Purdy’s backup, which is unlikely to interest him.”
Football is the ultimate sport for homecomings. It just doesn’t seem Rodgers’ professional career will end with one.