The player who was cut to accommodate Aaron Rodgers’ return to the New York Jets’ 53-man roster has broken his silence on the matter.
Fullback Nick Bawden, released from the team last week to make way for Rodgers, finally spoke out. Fortunately, Bawden was re-signed to the team’s practice squad, although his income may suffer if he remains inactive on game days.
While fans expressed discontent with the Jets’ decision to create space for Rodgers, who wasn’t slated to play for the team for the rest of the season, Bawden remains unperturbed.
“Everybody says it’s a business, and yeah, [Rodgers] did call me,” Bawden stated, as reported by Jets reporter Rich Cimini. “It wasn’t surprising because that’s the kind of guy Aaron is. I see him every day, and he’s full of love and full of being a great leader.”
Earlier in the week, Rodgers clarified that the decision to return to the roster was not his. In fact, he didn’t want to displace another player.
“I figured there’d be some conversation about it,” Rodgers explained. “The story is simple. We lost the previous week, and I was again targeting the 24th comeback. So I assumed I was gonna go on IR. I asked to be put on IR because, you know, there was a conversation: ‘Do you want to practice?’ And I said not at the expense of somebody getting cut. I know how this works, and I didn’t feel like I needed to practice to continue my rehab. I could do on-the-field stuff on the side. But obviously, I get overruled there. You know, it is what it is.”
Bawden appears to harbor no resentment toward Rodgers, acknowledging that the NFL is primarily a business. However, such situations are relatively rare, especially considering the Jets had no intention of playing Rodgers.
The Jets inadvertently stirred controversy in a situation that could have been avoided.
