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After reaching peak dysfunction during the 2024 season, the New York Jets are hoping new head coach Aaron Glenn can stabilize the franchise. The team found out the hard way that it, in fact, was not just a quarterback away from contending for a championship as the Jets finished 5-12 last season and missed the playoffs for the 14th straight year.
The abject failure of the Aaron Rodgers era left the organization eager to head in a different direction for 2025. And Glenn’s first big decision as the Jets’ shot caller was to release the veteran quarterback.
New York also parted ways with Davante Adams after acquiring him in a mid-season trade with the Las Vegas Raiders last year. And the team fired offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who was hired in 2023 to help lure Rodgers to New York.
Now it’s time for the Jets to move on from the last vestige of the Rodgers era by trading Allen Lazard.
Like Hackett, Lazard was brought in to make the Jets more appealing to the future Hall of Fame passer. New York signed the wideout to a four-year, $44 million contract prior to the 2023 season. A month later, the team landed Rodgers in a trade with the Green Bay Packers.
At the time it made sense to try to recreate the offensive environment from Rodgers’ two most recent MVP seasons. But Lazard is all that remains from that effort. And Glenn has sent a clear message that the Jets are starting fresh in 2025 with a focus on getting younger and building a culture.
Lazard never seemed like a natural fit with the Jets, even when Rodgers was playing. And his contributions when Rodgers was sidelined by injury in 2023 were negligible. Now, entering his age-30 season, he’s rumored to be losing the WR2 battle to newcomer Josh Reynolds.
It’s clear that the Jets need to upgrade their wide receiver room as Reynolds is not cut out for the WR2 role in a successful passing offense. But neither is Lazard. The seventh-year veteran has never caught more than 60 passes or topped 788 receiving yards in a season despite playing nearly every game of his career with Aaron Rodgers, including during the passer’s MVP campaigns in 2020 and 2021.
With Rodgers shelved due to an Achilles injury in 2023, Lazard had 23 receptions for 311 yards and one touchdown in 14 games. And when the quarterback returned to the field in 2024, Lazard responded by posting 37 catches for 530 yards and six scores.
In addition to the modest production, Lazard has been inconsistent with the Jets, struggling with drops – he had the sixth-highest drop rate among receivers in 2024 – and run blocking, which had been considered an area of strength for the wideout.
The Jets don’t have much talent at the position outside of star receiver Garrett Wilson. Beyond Lazard and Reynolds, the team has 2024 third-round pick Malachi Corley, who’s flirting with a bust label, 2025...
