As I said at the beginning of yesterday's Drive Poll. It's rumor season in the NFL, and frankly, one of the more exciting times on the league calendar.

News broke yesterday that a New York Jets contingent flew across the country to meet with Aaron Rodgers in his native California. On the flight for the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS, was team owner Woody Johnson, general manager Joe Douglas, head coach Robert Salah and new offensive coordinator, and close friend of Aaron's, Nathaniel Hackett. Basically it was the whole Jets' brain trust jetting west to try to entice Rodgers to the Big Apple.

So, let's play the hypothetical game for a second. If Rodgers were to get traded to NYJ this offseason, where would that leave the Patriots in the AFC East standings? Would the addition of Rodgers immediately vault the Jets over the Pats?

The 39-year-old QB experienced a steep decline in production last year, both statistically and most importantly, in the win-loss category.

Rodgers entered the 2022 season as the two-time reigning league MVP, yet passed for just 3695 yards, the lowest total of any full season in his career. His 26:12 TD:INT ratio was also very un-Rodgers-like, for a guy who hadn't thrown double-digit picks since the 2010 season. Finally, his 91.1 QB rating was a career-worst and well below his career mark of 103.9, the best of any QB all-time.

The Pack also went 8-9, marking Rodgers' third career losing season and his first since 2018. Don't forget the way it ended, either, with Rodgers mustering a mere 16 points in a win-and-in Week 18 contest at home vs. Detroit.

All that being said, here's what the Jets operated with last year at the QB position...

-  Zach Wilson (1688yds/6td/7int)

- Mike White (1192yds/3td/4int)

- Joe Flacco (1051yds/5td/3int)

For those scoring at home, that's 14 TDs and 14 INTs for Jets QB's a season ago. For a team that began the year 7-4 before losing the final six games, it's pretty clear QB was the lone reason the Jets were not a playoff squad in '22.

Should the potential addition of Rodgers leave Pats fans worried?

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