Aaron Rodgers has not yet decided about his future in the NFL, with the New York Jets quarterback focusing on the ongoing wildfires near his Southern California home.
Rodgers shared on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday that his house in Malibu is safe, though it experienced power outages for several days. However, he mentioned that many of his friends, including actor Miles Teller, have lost their homes due to the fires, one of the region’s most destructive natural disasters.
“I’ve been dealing with trying to protect my house out here,” Rodgers said. “My home is fine. I’m not in the areas that have been affected, but it’s been a weird time for so many that live down here. Friends of mine have lost houses. A number of friends in Palisades have lost their homes, a number of friends in Pasadena were affected, friends around Runyon Canyon.
“It’s been a tough time, for sure.”
Rodgers, 41, finished his 20th NFL season after the Jets’ win over Miami on January 5. He held exit meetings the next day with Jets’ owner Woody Johnson, vice chairman Christopher Johnson, team president Hymie Elhai, and interim coach Jeff Ulbrich. Afterward, he flew back to Southern California, where he found the skies darkened by smoke from the fires.
“I got to the house and the wind’s going absolutely nuts,” he recalled. “The gate was flying off the handles, and no power.”
Before leaving, Rodgers had “a lot of nice conversations” with the Jets. The team is currently interviewing candidates for its general manager and head coach positions. Rodgers had previously mentioned that he would take some time after the season to decide whether to continue playing, and would also need to assess whether the Jets’ new management wanted him to return for a 21st season.
Rodgers said he has had “limited communication” with the Jets due to the wildfires, but he made it clear that he’s not close to making a decision on his future.
“I told them I’m going to take some time,” he said. “They haven’t even made a decision on a GM or a coach yet. Once that happens, then that’ll take us to the next step, which will be a conversation, I’m assuming with whoever that individual is. But this is a time when I’m taking time for my body and my mind to clear things.”
Rodgers emphasized that the fires in Southern California will not affect his decision on whether to continue playing football.
“Obviously it’s different because all that’s going on in LA. And again, there’s been incredible, incredible work done by all the firefighters out here. Things are actually looking up, which is great.”
Firefighters are still battling the two largest fires, which have claimed the lives of 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 homes and buildings.
“A lot of the attention has gone to so many celebrities who lost their homes,” Rodgers said. “There’s some affluent areas in both Palisades and Malibu that got affected. But there’s a lot of other people, just your great average Southern California folks who lost everything as well. And it’s going to be tough to rebuild.”
Rodgers, a four-time MVP and the fifth player in NFL history to throw 500 touchdown passes in the regular season, has one year left on his non-guaranteed contract with the Jets. However, he would be owed a $35 million option bonus before the start of the regular season, and his cap hit would be $23.5 million.
If the Jets release him or he retires, they could absorb a $49 million dead-money charge next year, unless they designate him as a post-June 1 cut and spread that charge over two years.
“I think everybody understands that it’s going to come down to the GM and coach and myself,” Rodgers said. “And whether we all want to do the dance together or if it’s not in the cards.”
Rodgers also reassured that the situation in Southern California would not influence his decision on whether he wants to keep playing.
“Listen, I’ve sat in a hole in the ground in Nowheresville, Oregon, and I’ve sat in numerous ayahuasca ceremony circles,” Rodgers said with a smile, referencing some of his off-season activities. “So, I’ve done a lot of contemplating in my time and I’ve gotten some good perspective adjustments over the years.
“This is nothing that changes my perspective other than it’s heartbreaking.”
