“Saleh, to then support Aaron Rodgers, confronts Woody Johnson.”

NFLBy Brandon Contes on 03/28/2024

If New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and head coach Robert Saleh really did engage in a heated discussion, Colin Cowherd surmises Aaron Rodgers was the cause.

Earlier this week, Colleen Wolfe of NFL Media stated that Saleh and Johnson had a “heated exchange” at the owner’s meetings, citing the information coming “from a very reliable source.” In the following days, that report has been refuted by Jets beat reporter Connor Hughes and bashed by Johnson himself. Johnson’s rebuttal of an NFL Media member is particularly noteworthy, considering that as a team owner, he is also a partial owner of NFL Media.

Cowherd did not claim to know whether Johnson and Saleh engaged in a heated discussion at the owner’s meetings. Still, the Fox Sports Radio host found the story interesting enough to craft a detailed suggestion as to what may have caused the potential dispute.

.@ColinCowherd is giving out a “Big J” journalism plaque if anyone can uncover reason behind the reported ‘heated’ talk between Robert Saleh/Woody Johnson pic.twitter.com/a0MaiDASgy

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) March 28, 2024

“I would suggest to you that this is possibly it,” Cowherd began. “So, Woody Johnson, last week, brought up Zach Wilson. In fact, at these meetings. ‘Hey, ya know, Zach Wilson may start next year, there will be some games…’

“Aaron Rodgers texts Saleh, ‘WTF. Didn’t we sign Tyrod Taylor for this exact reason?’ Saleh, to then support Aaron Rodgers, confronts Woody Johnson and says, ‘Could you stay out of that?’”

And thus, a heated dispute was caused. Cowherd’s role-play is a clever way of adding Rodgers to this conversation. However, despite Cowherd’s detailed explanation, there is little reason to believe a text from Rodgers caused any potential rift between Johnson and Saleh.

Aaron Rodgers cannot be concerned about the potential distraction that would come from the New York Jets carrying Zach Wilson as their third quarterback next season. We’re talking about a quarterback who reportedly entertained the idea of running for Vice President of the United States alongside independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this summer, being concerned about who his third-stringer is. Additionally, if Aaron Rodgers has a gripe with anything that Woody Johnson says, he’s not going to text Saleh; he’s going straight to the owner himself. That’s the chain of command the 40-year-old quarterback came to New York for.

Zach Wilson will not be on the Jets’ roster next season. And Rodgers certainly understands Johnson attempting to boost the backup quarterback’s value, especially after the franchise owner began the offseason by lamenting that the Jets needed to upgrade the position before next season. But kudos to Cowherd for finding a way to bring Aaron Rodgers’ name into the equation. Because what’s a Jets story these days without Rodgers’ name?