The Jets have a lot of supporters heading into the 2024 season.
A couple of ESPN analysts think the Jets can win the Super Bowl this season, while another believes New York will at least break its 13-year playoff drought. Even NFL Network's Rich Eisen thinks the Jets can do something that's never been done before in NFL history.
Meanwhile, the Jets' 2024 offseason earned mostly positive reviews from pundits.
Now, Aaron Rodgers' former Packers teammate past thinks very highly of the Jets being led by the four-time MVP quarterback.
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Two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle David Bakhtiari hopped on the "Adam Schefter Podcast" this week and discussed what he expects from Rodgers this season. Bakhtiari played 10 seasons protecting Rodgers' blindside with the Packers and built up a great rapport with the quarterback.
He told Schefter that he expects "big things" from Rodgers in 2024 following his Week 1 Achilles injury in 2023 and that he believes Rodgers can deliver a playoff appearance for New York.
Aaron Rodgers' former teammate makes big prediction for Jets' season
Rodgers and Bakhtiari were a dynamic duo in Green Bay. They made the playoffs seven times together and Bakhtiari believes that Rodgers still has greatness left in the tank. Although their playoff appearances never amounted to another Super Bowl for Rodgers (Bakhtiari joined the Packers as a fourth-round pick three years after Rodgers won his only Lombardi Trophy), Bakhtiari has had a first-row seat to how the 19-year veteran views the game and explained his reasoning for why Rodgers will carry the Jets in 2024.
I know that his fire is burning really hard, with the Jets — especially with what happened to him [with his Achilles injury]," Bakhtiari said. "I'm expecting big things from him."
Both athletes have been in each other's corner and have built a strong friendship with one another over their careers. They have both gone back and forth on social media in recent years and went as far as to even have a beer chug off at a Milwaukee Bucks game back in 2019. If anyone knows about what Rodgers brings to the table as a person and teammate, it's going to be him.
Bakhtiari went on to mention that he believes the Jets finally break into the playoff picture.
"I think for sure they make the playoffs," Bakhtiari said. "After that, I mean all you need is a ticket to the dance."
The confidence in Bakhtiari's statements about Rodgers this season is telling, even with the Jets playing in a tough AFC conference where even a 10-7 record may not be enough for the Jets to make the playoffs. Rodgers' age and his return from his brutal injury in 2023 may bring a lot of uncertainty for the Jets this upcoming season as well.
With that in mind, Bakhtiari pumps to breaks on the idea of Rodgers not being back in the postseason where he belongs.
"I don’t think it’s wise for any betting man to say that Aaron Rodgers is not going to make the playoffs," he said. "If you just look at his total career, he's only missed it a very few times and most of the times he has missed it's been from injury."
It has been 13 years since the last playoff appearance for New York, the longest drought of any active team in North American sports. There's a lot on the line for Rodgers and the entire Jets regime in 2024 if this experiment doesn't go to plan and jobs will be lost. The pressure for Rodgers to "sail into the sunset" is definitely cut out for him, but he knows and has mentioned before that he doesn't want to go out looking like a shell of his former MVP self.
Rodgers, 40 years old, still has the arm talent and knowledge at the quarterback position to prove his doubters wrong after suffering the tragic Achilles injury in week 1 last season. Luckily for Rodgers, he's on a Jets team that's primed to win now with the abundance of talent they have around him.
