Sauce Gardner ramps up Aaron Rodgers Jets recruitment by burning cheesehead

The Jets are going all out in their Aaron Rodgers recruitment, and Sauce Gardner is helping lead the charge.

After reports emerged that several top Jets officials, including owner Woody Johnson, general manager Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh, met with Rodgers in California on Tuesday, several Jets players tweeted at Rodgers trying to help him join your team.

[Beyond pursuing Aaron Rodgers, what else is on Jets’ offseason to-do list?]

Gardner hinted in his tweets that he would burn the cheesehead he made famous after the Jets upset Rodgers’ Packers in Green Bay during the 2022 season, then made good on his promise Thursday night alongside two of his most prominent teammates at running back. Breece Hall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson.

In a five-minute video posted to his YouTube channel, Gardner called Rodgers “one of, if not the best quarterback. [sic] in the league right now” and said he had a conversation with the longtime Packer that gave Gardner hope he “could be in that green and white next season” before burning the head of cheese on a bonfire with Hall and Wilson.

While Gardner made it clear that the Packers’ hat burning wasn’t confirmation that Rodgers had already decided to leave for New York, he also interviewed Hall and Wilson about what it would be like to line up alongside Rodgers on offense.

“I just know it’s going to be accurate,” Wilson said. “That’s the main thing I think about when I think about it [Rodgers].”

Hall then went straight to Rodgers.

“You see what you’re going to have here, you might as well make that move,” Hall said.

The three watched as the head of cheese melted in the fire, or as Gardner put it, “turned into cheese sauce.” Gardner also thinks Packers fans will be less mad at him now that he no longer owns one of their staples, though he didn’t say anything about how they might react when he burns him to draft his team’s star quarterback.

Willow Gardner sacrifices head of cheese to recruit Aaron Rodgers

Gardner, Hall and Wilson also promoted the young talent on the Jets’ roster, of which all three are a big part. Wilson and Gardner won the 2022 NFL Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, respectively, and Hall was considered a contender in the former category until he tore his ACL in October.

“I need you to shut up,” Gardner said to Rodgers. “I need you to come here so we can win a Super Bowl… I can teach you how to study too.”

No mention was made throughout the video of Zach Wilson, the second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, who was snubbed last season after reportedly losing respect in the locker room.

Although the Jets are trying to lure Rodgers, Jets fan Jason McIntyre claimed on “The Herd” on Friday that Rodgers would be a “quick fix” and ultimately won’t work out for the Jets long term.