Aaron Rodgers' fingerprints are all over Robert Saleh's firing

It seems a lifetime ago since Robert Saleh was part of the euphoric Jets traveling party that flew to Malibu to convince Aaron Rodgers that the final years of his career should be as a New York Jet.

Rodgers raved about playing for “Rob.”

But his Achilles tendon would not allow him to play more than four plays for “Rob” in 2023.

Five games and four games were enough for him.

If Woody Johnson and GM Joe Douglas had come to Rodgers to tell him they wanted to fire “Rob,” Rodgers could have saved “Rob.”

Because the Jets moved heaven and earth for Rodgers, he was held in the same regard as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were throughout all those years. Just like Broadway's Joe Namath has done as No. 12 for all these years.

Randall Cobb? Let's make him a jet. Allen Lazard? Let's make him a jet. Nathaniel Hackett is the OK? How did you know I would be for it?

Aaron Rodgers didn't fire Robert Saleh.

But you'd be naive if you didn't think his fingerprints are all over this place.

Rodgers came here to win his second Super Bowl and the Jets' first since Jan. 12, 1969, and to establish a lasting New York legacy.

He's looked and undoubtedly felt like a battered 40-year-old quarterback for the past two weeks, and now more than ever it's up to him to get a big win at 2-3 Win Now this season.

Johnson was overseas as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom when brother hired Christopher Saleh to replace Adam Gase. But it was Woody who announced with three games left in the 2023 season that Saleh and GM Joe Douglas would get a mulligan and return in 2024.

“My decision is to keep her,” Woody Johnson told the Post’s Brian Costello. “I think we've taken some very positive steps. The culture in the team is much better. The defense is better. The offense needs some pieces.”

I think it was the right move at the time and that was Aaron Rodgers on “The Pat McAfee Show”:

“I believe in the leadership we have here.”

If Rodgers had said those words to Woody Johnson before Bloody Tuesday, “Rob” would still be the head coach of the 20-36 Jets.

But DC Jeff Ulbrich, who can command a room and has head coaching skills, is now the Jets' head coach.

Douglas, in his limited sessions with the media, advocated for Saleh, the culture he built and their friendly working relationship at every turn.

Everyone saw Saleh try to hug Rodgers after the Jets took a two-point lead against the Patriots and Rodgers pushed him away and stared at him.

Everyone heard Saleh call Rodgers' cancellation of mandatory minicamp for this trip to Egypt an “unexcused absence.”

Everyone heard Saleh and Rodgers arguing about which weapon was the future first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback's cadence.

When I asked Saleh last week about his relationship with Rodgers, he said the only thing he could say publicly: “It’s fantastic. I love him.”

In London, Rodgers said the only thing he could say publicly: “We’re really good friends. We enjoy each other. We spend time almost every day, I'm in his office talking about things, talking about the energy of the team, the focus of the team, what we need to get done, how I can help him, how he can help me out.

“So we have a great relationship.”

Of course, just because you like the guy a lot as a friend doesn't mean you like him a lot as a head coach.

Saleh is a good man, everyone likes him. But he wasn't the CEO the Jets thought they were hiring. Obliging the owner by suddenly offering his expertise in the offending meetings was ridiculous.

Saleh will emerge as the fiery defensive coordinator he once was with the 49ers. He and Ulbrich know defense. In his defense, he never really had a chance with Zach Wilson, the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, as his quarterback. On the other hand, he failed to develop it further. On the other hand, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was the decoy who lured Rodgers.

Woody Johnson's statement on Bloody Tuesday: “We are not where we should be living up to our expectations.”

What if it was 3-2?

The Jets are one game behind the Bills in the division. Josh Allen will return to the scene of the Achilles crime Monday evening. “Rob” won’t do it.

If Woody Johnson broke the news to Rodgers that he was considering firing “Rob,” here's the bottom line:

He could have told him: RELAX. And he didn't.