Network Executives Have To Be Melting Down Over Jets' 5 Primetime Games

It's been over 24-hours since Aaron Rodgers was officially ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles. So that means all the "thoughts and prayers" have officially moved on unless you're a Jets fan or a personal friend.

Yes, now that the absolute shock of Rodgers getting hurt on the first drive of the first game with his new team has worn off, it's time to talk about the money.

As Rodgers' season has already been ruled over, you can be absolutely sure that network executives are losing their damn minds and freaking out after booking Rodgers' Jets to six primetime games including FIVE that are yet to be played.

THE NETWORKS BANKED BIG ON RODGERS... HE'S GONE

Let's be honest, there aint NOBODY tuning in to see Zach Wilson crap the bed like he did last season. And although the Jets defense was able to dominate Josh Allen, if that Rodgers-less team lines up against the Bills in 10 games, I don't think the Jets beat them more than once. Sure, the Jets defense is solid and fun to watch, but network executives (for the most part) aren't that dumb and know that isn't moving the needle.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the CEOs of whichever network has the remaining primetime games weren't already on the phones with their lawyers to see what leverage they had in moving up flex scheduling in order to get the Jets the hell out of primetime to stop the inevitable ad revenue and ratings bleedout.

However, each network has different rules on when the league can begin their flex scheduling, so let's break it down here.

JETS HAVE 5 MORE PRIMETIME GAMES

No matter what, the Jets will air in primetime for Week 4 against the Chiefs during Sunday Night Football on NBC and Week 9 against the Chargers on ESPN's Monday Night Football. Unless the networks make some sort of new deal and are able to move up the flex week earlier, this is going to remain. You can hear Peyton Manning groaning already.

Amazon Prime Video is going to have their work cut out for them as they won't be able to flex the Friday after Thanksgiving night game.

Week 10's Jets matchup against the Raiders however is likely to be moved as long as they give NBC a 12-day heads up. The Jets final primetime game comes during the last regular season week against the Cleveland Browns. I'd suspect this one to also be moved because there isn't any way Zach Wilson is doing anything special by then.

Of course, Wilson could be replaced by a veteran quarterback. Rumors are that the Jets could reach out to everyone from Joe Flacco to Matt Ryan to see if they're interested in the position.

As of this writing, Rodgers has not had season-ending surgery yet. The sports world has blamed everything from MetLife's artificial turf to the woes of the offensive line.

And for the executives that are maybe reading this, "this is why we drink."