Joe Douglas seems to think that an Aaron Rodgers trade to the Jets still remains a guarantee — or as close to one as it can be at this point.

Friday night, at a WFAN event in Jersey City, Boomer Esiason asked Douglas, the Jets’ general manager, about Rodgers: “When’s he coming?” 

Douglas’ answer can be viewed as more of a reassurance than a surprise. 

“He’s gonna be here,” Douglas replied, with a smile on his face as Esiason and the crowd started celebrating and cheering. 

Gregg Giannotti, Esiason’s “Boomer & Gio” co-host, had described the event at White Eagle Hall as an “off-air, on-stage, uncensored version of the show, only for the people in the room. Absolutely not going to be broadcast. We are going to be drinking, we are going to be cursing, we are going to be doing all sorts of crazy things.” 

Douglas’ response wasn’t quite like Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy, who gave perhaps the most substantial Rodgers update while on a broadcast of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association, but the strange setting for the update came close. 

When Murphy spoke on March 10, Green Bay appeared ready to move on from Rodgers and insert 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love into its starting quarterback spot.

Murphy said that a scenario with Rodgers back as starting quarterback would happen “if things don’t work out the way that we would want them.” 

Less than a week later, Rodgers, during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” declared his intention to play for the Jets in 2023.

That ended weeks of speculation that had stretched throughout the Super Bowl and Rodgers’ four-day darkness retreat. 

It has been about three weeks since then, though, and the Jets and Packers still need to work out a trade — with compensation appearing to be the reason for the delay. 

Douglas’ comments became the latest signal that a trade still seems like the most probable outcome, even as the first trace of another interested team — the 49ers — emerged earlier this week through reporting from WFAN’s Craig Carton. 

Rodgers even worked out recently with former Packers teammate and new Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard in California, according to posts from Lazard’s Instagram account. 

The Jets also signed quarterback Tim Boyle, another former Packer, and have Rodgers’ former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett’s system waiting, too. 

The Packers at one point wanted the No. 13 pick in the 2023 draft, according to ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, but they reportedly backed away from that stance in late March.