Ex-Jets coach Todd Bowles gives his take on New York’s pursuit of Aaron Rodgers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles has experience working with a future Hall of Fame quarterback, having spent the last three seasons working with Tom Brady in Tampa Bay.

Bowles has over two decades of coaching experience in the NFL and spent four years as the New York Jets’ head coach.

So, he’s well-equipped to speak on what comes with incorporating a Super Bowl-winning quarterback into a roster. And that’s exactly what he did recently when he spoke about his former team’s attempts to acquire Aaron Rodgers.

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When Brady first arrived in the Tampa Bay, veterans Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown joined him and helped lead the Bucs to the second Super Bowl victory in the franchise’s history.

Bowles said the Buccaneers did get input from Brady on personnel, but ultimately the coach and general manager made the decisions about the roster.

“You run the team how you run the team,” Bowles said at the NFL meetings in March. “You can’t tailor the team towards a quarterback. You can get a guy here or there, or you can listen and look to see if it fits. But the coach and the GM run the team.”

Rodgers has denied a report from ESPN that he sent the Jets a “wish list” of players he wanted the team to target.

Last month, the Jets signed Rodgers’ former teammate Allen Lazard. 

Rodgers should have some familiarly with the offensive scheme if he lands with the Jets. His former offensive coordinator in Green Bay, Nathaniel Hackett, will handle play-calling duties with the Jets in 2023.

Bowles pointed out that there was an adjustment period with the offensive philosophy when Brady first arrived in Tampa Bay.

“For us, it was a process,” Bowles said. “When Tom came in, Bruce was such a great offensive coordinator. Him and Byron, they had a plan. We have our system. But you also have to listen to see what he’s comfortable with as well. I can’t speak for anybody else, but it was a good collaboration with our guys once we got him. It’s a lot of give and take there. You want to run your system, but you want to help him be successful. So, you want to bring some things to the table that he does well also.”

Jets head coach Robert Saleh will likely be adjusting from working with a young quarterback in Zach Wilson to an experienced signal-caller in Rodgers.

“From an experience standpoint, it’s different,” Bowles said. “You have an established guy who can run it with his eyes closed, and the work ethic is there. When you have a young guy, you have to bring them along to learn the system and learn the NFL game. I think they’re two different ways of teaching that. You’re still trying to find out about a young guy. An old guy, you know what he can do. It’s just a matter of collaborating and doing the things you want to do along with the things he wants to do.”