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Rejoice, Bears Fans! Your Nemesis Just Got Traded

Tacuma Roeback, Managing Editor
Aaron Rodgers

Aaron Rodgers just got traded to the New York Jets (Photo: Wikimedia Commons).

Chicago Bears fans, you can breathe now. Your nemesis, Aaron Rodgers, is no longer a member of the Green Bay Packers, and you won’t play him twice a year anymore.

The four-time MVP and bane of your very existence has been traded to the New York Jets in a blockbuster deal, according to ESPN.

In addition to Rodgers, the Jets will receive the Packers’ first-round (No. 15) and fifth-round (No. 170) picks.

But New York is reportedly giving up a lot in return.

The Packers will receive the Jets’ 2023 first (No. 13), second (No. 42) and sixth-round (No. 207) picks for Rodgers. According to ESPN, they are also giving up a conditional 2024 second-round pick that could turn into a first-round selection if Rodgers plays 65 percent of the plays.

Truth be told, it’s a deal that’s been in the making for weeks.

With the 39-year-old star quarterback on the Jets, New York rockets to relevancy. Expect to see them in more primetime games this upcoming season.

And if you’re keeping score at home, this is the second time the Packers have traded an aging franchise quarterback to the Jets. They did so in 2008 when they traded Brett Favre to New York. That didn’t turn out so well.

But the more important storyline here is that Rodgers, self-proclaimed owner of your Bears, will no longer be in the division. With Rodgers’s 24-5 regular season record against the Bears, it appeared that the quarterback held the deed to the Bears franchise’s soul.

But now, it’s a new day.

With the trade, the Bears go from playing Rodgers twice a year to once every four years – although the teams could likely play in 2024, that schedule won’t be announced for another year.

About Post Author

Tacuma Roeback, Managing Editor

Tacuma R. Roeback is the Managing Editor for the Chicago Defender.

His journalism, non-fiction, and fiction have appeared in the Smithsonian Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tennessean, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Phoenix New Times, HipHopDX.com, Okayplayer.com, The Shadow League, SAGE: The Encyclopedia of Identity, Downstate Story, Tidal Basin Review, and Reverie: Midwest African American Literature.

He is an alumnus of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, Chicago State University, and Florida A&M University.

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