Could Allen Lazard be another domino to fall in the Aaron Rodgers saga?
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the New York Jets are actively trying to sign wide receiver Allen Lazard away from the Green Bay Packers, although a deal isn’t yet done.
Lazard is an unrestricted free agent, and the Jets signing him would be another sign that Rodgers is soon headed to New York via trade.
After the 2022 season, Rodgers specifically mentioned Lazard among the teammates he’d like to keep playing with if he returned to football in 2023.
“This game is about relationships,” Rodgers told “The Pat McAfee Show.” “It’s about the guys you rely on, even if they don’t show up huge in the stat book. A guy like Marcedes Lewis, he’s an important cog in the wheel of the locker room and the momentum of the team. That’s a guy I want to finish my career with, you know? If I’m playing, I want that guy next to me. I want the Randall Cobbs of the world, if he wants to keep playing, in my locker room. Guys you can win with. Allen Lazard, Bobby Tonyan, Dave Bakhtiari. There’s a lot of interesting names that we’ll see their desire to re-sign these certain guys who are glue guys in the locker room that will be interesting conversations to be had.”
Even if Lazard didn’t wind up with Rodgers, he’d still get a chance to play under new Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who spent three years with him in Green Bay.
Last season, Lazard set career-highs in catches (60) and receiving yards (788). Over the last two years, he has 100 total catches and 14 total touchdown catches.
A terrific blocking receiver who can make plays in the middle of the field and in the red zone, Lazard has immense value in an offense designed like the one Matt LaFleur has built in Green Bay. And he has Rodgers’ trust.
It’s possible, if the Jets sign Lazard, that a receiver could be involved in the compensation coming back to the Packers in a Rodgers trade. Options include Corey Davis and Elijah Moore.
