Aaron Rodgers 'open to everything' regarding his playing future beyond this season with Jets

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers is still uncertain whether he'll play football beyond this season. And if he does, he isn't sure if it'll even be with the New York Jets.

The 41-year-old quarterback will consider any and all scenarios during the offseason. That includes potentially mentoring a youngster who might someday take his job. Or even adjusting his contract again to stay with the Jets next season.

“Yeah, I’m open to everything,” Rodgers said after practice Wednesday.

He also envisions being even healthier to start next season than he was this season, coming off a torn Achilles tendon.

“Yeah, it's possible,” he said before smiling. “Might be sitting on a beach, though.”

Rodgers' future will be a storyline from now until there's clarity sometime in the offseason, whether he's back with the Jets, retires or is released and plans to play elsewhere. But he reiterated his first choice is to remain in New York.

“Yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of reasons why this would be a great opportunity,” he said. “But I’m going to see what happens. There's a lot of things that have to happen.”

Rodgers was referring to the Jets' search for a general manager and a head coach after Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh were fired earlier this season.

“Whether or not I’m part of the conversation, or whether or not they move on,” Rodgers said, “whatever happens, I’ll be taking my time and thinking about my future.”

Rodgers struggled with knee, ankle and hamstring ailments early in the season and was clearly hindered by the injuries as he and the Jets got off to a bad start. The four-time NFL MVP acknowledged this season — the Jets are 4-10 and out of the playoff hunt for the 14th straight year — hasn't been up to his standards or expectations.

But he also refuses to use injuries as an excuse for his inconsistent play through much of this season.

“It’s a what-if game,” Rodgers said. “I don’t get into a whole lot of that. I felt like I was healthy enough to play, so I played and that was kind of the end of the conversation there. There were games where I was more hampered and games I felt a little bit better.

"But obviously, I feel a lot better the last couple of weeks.”

In his past two games, Rodgers is 43 of 69 — a 62% completion rate — for 628 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. In New York's 32-25 victory Sunday at Jacksonville, he threw for 289 yards with two touchdown passes to Davante Adams and another to Garrett Wilson as Rodgers helped pull out a rare win with a late comeback drive.

Still, the 20-year veteran said a late-season surge won't necessarily affect how he'll approach coming back next season.

“No, I’m going to take some time after the year — unless, you know, I get released right away,” he said with a slight smile. “But I’ll still take some time whether or not I want to play, but I’ll take some time to get away from it, either way.”

Rodgers is signed through next season with a $2.5 million non-guaranteed base salary. He would also be due a $35 million option bonus before the regular season begins and count $23.5 million against the salary cap. But if he’s cut or retires, the Jets could absorb a $49 million dead money charge next year unless they designate him a June 1 cut and can spread it out over two years.

Those are issues the team's new regime will have to consider, as well as whether they think he can still lead the Jets on the field and stay healthy.

New York will likely pick in the top 10 of the draft next April, so taking a quarterback could be in play. Rodgers insists he's OK with that, if he's still on the team. He was also asked if he could see a scenario where the Jets ask him to return, but could turn to a youngster if they fall out of playoff contention.

He compared it to when he was in Green Bay and the Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round in 2020. Rodgers started three seasons with Love behind him — and was the MVP during the 2020 and 2021 seasons — before the Packers moved on.

“When they drafted Jordan, I felt like I was one bad stretch from being benched, and I won MVP a couple years, so that’s the way the league is,” Rodgers said. "You've got to prove that you can play every single week, and through stretches.

“So if they ask me back and they drafted a guy, I’d mentor the hell out of him if I was playing. And I’d try to play as well as I could to keep him on the bench.”

NOTES: DT Quinnen Williams (hamstring), CB Michael Carter II (back) and RG Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle) didn't participate in the team's walkthrough practice. ... RB Braelon Allen (back), RB Isaiah Davis (back), CB Brandin Echols (shoulder), RT Morgan Moses (knee) and LB Quincy Williams (knee) were listed as limited. ... S Jaylen Mills was placed on injured reserve after breaking his collarbone on an interception at Jacksonville. ... DT Leki Fotu, on IR with a knee injury, had his practice window opened.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) scrambles away from Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Travon Walker (44) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Jeremiah Ledbetter (99) sacks New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers answers questions from reporters after an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ahn Sung-ki, one of South Korean cinema’s biggest stars whose prolific 60-year career and positive, gentle public image earned him the nickname “The Nation’s Actor,” died on Monday. He was 74.

The death of Ahn, who had been fighting blood cancer for years, was announced by his agency, the Artist Company, and the Seoul-based Soonchunhyang University Hospital.

Born to a filmmaker in the southeastern city of Daegu in 1952, Ahn made his debut as a child actor in the movie “The Twilight Train” in 1957. He subsequently appeared in about 70 movies as a child actor before he left the film industry to live an ordinary life.

In 1970, Ahn entered Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies as a Vietnamese major. Ahn said he graduated with top honors but failed to land jobs at big companies, who likely saw his Vietnamese major largely useless after a communist victory in the Vietnam War in 1975.

After spending a few years unemployed, Ahn returned to the film industry in 1977 believing he could still excel in acting. In 1980, he rose to fame for his lead role in Lee Jang-ho’s “Good, Windy Days,” a hit coming-of-age movie about the struggle of working-class men from rural areas during the country’s rapid rise. Ahn won the best new actor award in the prestigious Grand Bell Awards, the Korean version of the Academy Awards.

He later starred in a series of highly successful and critically acclaimed movies, sweeping best actor awards and becoming arguably the country’s most popular actor in much of the 1980-90s.

Some of his memorable roles included a Buddhist monk in 1981’s “Mandara,” a beggar in 1984’s “Whale Hunting,” a Vietnam War veteran-turned-novelist in 1992’s “White Badge,” a corrupt police officer in 1993’s “Two Cops,” a murderer in 1999’s “No Where To Hide,” a special forces trainer in 2003’s “Silmido” and a devoted celebrity manager in 2006’s “Radio Star.”

Ahn had collected more than 20 trophies in major movie awards in South Korea, including winning the Grand Bell Awards for best actor five times, an achievement no other South Korean actors have matched yet.

Ahn built up an image as a humble, trustworthy and family-oriented celebrity who avoided major scandals and maintained a quiet, stable personal life. Past public surveys chose Ahn as South Korea’s most beloved actor and deserving of the nickname “The Nation’s Actor.”

In interviews with local media, Ahn couldn’t choose what his favorite movie was, but said that his role as a dedicated, hardworking manger for a washed-up rock singer played by Park Jung-hoon resembled himself in real life the most.

FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki smiles for a photo on the red carpet at the 56th Daejong Film Awards ceremony in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

FILE - South Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki attends an event as part of the 11th Pusan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea, Oct. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)