What the Aaron Rodgers trade means for Seahawks, NFC contenders

Aaron Rodgers is no more.

Well, he’s no longer part of the NFC, which is virtually the same thing from a football scheduling standpoint.

The Green Bay Packers and New York Jets finally made it Facebook official, sending the longtime nemesis and Russell Wilson insulter to the AFC East for a bunch of picks and a hearty “thanks for taking him off our hands”.

But what does the trade mean for the Seattle Seahawks and other NFC contenders?

For starters, Aaron Rodgers is 7-3 in his career against the Seahawks. The last time a different quarterback from Green Bay beat the Seahawks was Brett Favre in the 2006 season’s divisional round.

But suddenly, a suspect class of quarterbacks in the NFC gets even worse, and Geno Smith stands alongside Jalen Hurts as one of the only threats in the conference. Two years ago that sentence didn’t even exist.

Rodgers wasn’t his best self last season, but he’s still got game-winning potential and remains obnoxiously unfettered most of the time.

From an immediate standpoint, this affects very little in Seattle. The Packers play the Los Angeles Rams but nobody else from the NFC West. The Jets have a brutal 2023 schedule but also won’t face the Hawks. Whether Rodgers is even still playing next time New York plays Seattle is unlikely.

Within a span of two years the quickly-shifting landscape between NFC and AFC quarterbacks in particular has seen more massive turnover. Tom Brady (re)retired, Wilson left, Rodgers left, Matt Stafford broke, and Drew Brees retired in 2021. Oh and Matt Ryan’s arm aged 15 years overnight.

It’s crazy out here in the NFC, and the West is no exception. It only serves to confirm what seems like Pete Carroll making the right call to contend for divisional and conference runs at a time when nobody thought it would be possible.