EAST RUTHERFORD – It’s never easy. Not with Aaron Rodgers. The will he or won’t he dance is officially underway with the 2024 season having been completed, with a lengthy post-game press conference following the completion of the Jets’ 32-20 win over the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium on Sunday evening that provided little in the way of definitive clarity on whether the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer would be up to return to the team next season. “I don’t know, I honestly don’t know,” he said. “If I did, I don’t know that I’d tell you, so I will say that out of respect, but truthfully, I don’t know. I’m looking forward to those conversations with Woody (Johnson) and Christopher (Johnson) and Hymie (Elhai) and Phil (Savage) and anybody else. It feels good to be able to do some of the things the last five or six weeks that I knew I was capable of doing even at 40, 41, but either way I won’t be upset or offended, whatever they decide to do, if they want to move on, and if I still want to play and if not I’ll let them know at some point if that’s the case.” There were times where the “will they or won’t they” side of it — whether the Jets should bring him back — seemed little more than fait accompli; there were weeks where he looked every bit the part of a quarterback in his 40s coming off a major Achilles injury, or one playing behind an offensive line that put him in harm’s way more often than not. But, Sunday was more indicative of how things had been going of late, even if the Jets still finished a miserable 5-12 and extended a playoff drought another year. Rodgers threw four touchdown passes for the first time in over three years — including his 500th career TD pass, becoming just the fifth player in league history to reach the milestone — and finished having completed 23 of 36 passes for 274 yards, those four TDs and one interception on a deflected ball on his first attempt of the game. His season totals in yards (3,897) and touchdowns (28) have him in the top 10 in the league, and while it certainly wasn’t a great year by any stretch, particularly by his Canton-bound standards, both sides seemed like they were leaning towards a return in 2025 that would see him earn $23.5 million as well as a $35 million option bonus if the team were to pull the trigger on that move. “One of the greatest that has ever played this game,” said Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich. “He put that on full display again.” Regardless of the decision ahead, the Jets do need to start looking toward the future.  Perhaps an ideal scenario would be Rodgers returning next season and mentoring a young quarterback; Gang Green may already have that in-house with Jordan Travis, who was taken in the fifth round out of Florida State last year, but missed the entire season rehabbing from an injury, or they could look to the 2025 Draft for a potential successor. However it looks, the decision comes down to how Rodgers is feeling physically, having remarkably started every game this season despite everything he played through. “It’s more my body,” Rodgers said of his decision. “One of my main goals was starting 17 games, so I accomplished that. The other ones I didn’t maybe meet, but I’m thankful for everybody who put me in position to start 17 games and not just Dr. (Neal) ElAttrache and Heather with my rehab in Triple-A, but Dave (Zuffelato) and his staff here. It was good to work with them, but I know I can still play. I know I can still do the things I need to do to be successful. It just comes down to the desire on their side and, ultimately, my desire to play. I’m going to take some time mentally and physically to rest and relax.” Moving forward, Rodgers says, the Jets can turn it around. With or without him. It certainly sounded like if it’s up to him, the plan would be for it to be with him. “It takes a concerted, intentional effort to make change. It takes people following the same direction,” he said. “It takes a top-down focus to be able to create a culture where winning is the standard, not the hope. I put my heart into this and I wanted it really bad and it didn’t work this year. We came up short and I played four plays last year. “So, it’s overall disappointing, but the beauty in this game is that every year is a new year and the opportunity to change and make changes and be a part of the solution is going to be out there, so whether I’m back or whether it’s the guys they’ve got or new guys or whatever, the focus has to be how can I, player, be part of the solution, not the problem. And I have a lot of love for this organization and I hope it gets turned around. If I’m back part of it, I’ll do everything in my power to get it turned around.”