The New York Jets must try to lure Tom Brady out of retirement to replace Aaron Rodgers after the quarterback suffered a season-ending Achilles injury just four seconds into his debut.
That’s according to Shannon Sharpe, who believes the Jets should donate $25 million to the 46-year-old who ended his career earlier this year.
Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon in Monday’s win over the Buffalo Bills, a setback that cost Stephen A. Smith the team any hope of winning the Super Bowl.
Jets general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh must now decide how to fill the void left by four-time MVP Rodgers.
Zach Wilson came in against the Bills, while Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan and Nick Foles are among the names linked with a move to MetLife.
Shannon Sharpe says the Jets should try to land Tom Brady to replace Aaron Rodgers
The 46-year-old, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, was honored by the Patriots on Sunday
But, speaking of ESPN’s First recording, Former tight end Sharpe believes the Jets should replace one all-time great player with another.
“I’m calling Tom Brady – seriously!” he said. The seven-time Super Bowl champion was honored on Sunday by the Patriots – where he spent 20 years. But on Monday he was in New York with his family.
“I’m going to call Tom Brady. All those other guys, I understand that… Wentz is available and Nick Foles is available and maybe you can get Matt Ryan out of the booth with CBS… I’ll call Tom!’
Sharpe added, “Tom, seriously, we have $25 million on the table for you. Can you come and give us something?’
The Jets fought back to secure a win over the Bills on Monday but Smith, Sharpe’s sparring partner at First Take, believes their hopes of a second Super Bowl are now in tatters.
‘As far as I’m concerned, their season is over. In terms of what the expectations were: Super Bowl battle. That’s out the window. Let’s get that out of the way. It’s over,” Smith said.
Quarterback Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon during Monday’s win over the Buffalo Bills
Stephen A. Smith says Rodgers’ injury cost the team any hope of winning the Super Bowl
‘Would they still have a chance to make the play-offs? I think that’s a big question mark too… it’s shaky, it’s not a foregone conclusion that it’s over, but it’s very much up in the air at the moment. This is how devastating this is.”
However, Smith believes Rodgers can still help the Jets from the sidelines.
“They were knocking on the door (of the playoffs) — you’d like to believe that the influence that Aaron Rodgers may have had on someone like Zach Wilson — while he was in that quarterback room and being with him over the last few months, “I’m trying to teach him, teach him,” he said.
‘Not to mention that I don’t believe Aaron Rodgers – if he’s injured – will never show up at practice or in the locker room, or that he won’t be that guy in Wilson’s ear to really help him improve what we saw last year…even without Aaron Rodgers, they’re still going to be better than last year.”