Mike White's a Dolphin, Jimmy Garoppolo's a Raider and Aaron Rodgers is quiet

As the Jets’ wait for Aaron Rodgers continued, they lost one of their own quarterbacks and another who had been linked to them — all in the first two hours of the NFL free-agent negotiation period.

Mike White is signing with the Miami Dolphins, a league source said. The former Jet agreed to a two-year deal worth $16 million on Monday. White is from the Miami area and lives there in the offseason.

Former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo also found a new home. Multiple outlets reported that Garoppolo agreed to a three-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. Garoppolo will reunite with coach Josh McDaniels, who was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator when Garoppolo was in New England.

The NFL’s “legal tampering” period opened Monday at noon and there was a flurry of activity, but nothing materialized early regarding Rodgers. Everyone is waiting to see if he will agree to play for the Jets, finish his career in Green Bay or retire.

There were reports that a Rodgers deal to the Jets was done and that he could be trying to recruit other players to join him. Jets players Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, Mekhi Becton and C.J Uzomah all issued tweets that would indicate they’re confident Rodgers is coming to the Jets. But league sources said nothing was final as of Monday night.

The 39-year-old Rodgers said he would make his decision sooner rather than later and that he didn’t want to string anyone along. Yet he let the Jets and Packers hang at the start of free agency.

Jets general manager Joe Douglas is not going to panic, but there may come a point when he puts a deadline on Rodgers to make his decision — if he hasn’t already. It’s also possible that Douglas already knows what Rodgers wants to do and the Jets are letting the future Hall of Famer announce his plans on his terms after he gets some friends to come play with him.

The Jets already lost out on Derek Carr, who signed with the Saints last week. Garoppolo was believed to be a fallback option, although there have been reports to the contrary.

Either way, it’s hard to imagine that Douglas would allow starting quarterbacks to get away if he didn’t have an understanding of what Rodgers will do or another plan in place that he would execute when needed.

If things don’t work out for the Jets with Rodgers, they will have other options, but only one would excite a tortured fan base that has been waiting for good news.

The Jets could pursue Lamar Jackson, whom the Ravens gave a non-exclusive franchise tag. That allows Jackson to negotiate with other teams beginning Wednesday, which is the official start of the new NFL year.

Baltimore will have the chance to match any offers, though. Douglas might not want to tie up money waiting for the Ravens after what has transpired with Rodgers.

The Jets also could look to acquire another veteran such as Matthew Stafford or Ryan Tannehill. Among the free-agent quarterbacks they could turn to are Jacoby Brissett, Baker Mayfield, Andy Dalton, Marcus Mariota or Carson Wentz.

The one move the Jets did pull off was bringing back kicker Greg Zuerlein, who made 30 of 37 field-goal attempts last year, including a franchise-record 60-yarder.

White was a long shot to return to the Jets, who signed him to their practice squad in 2019. He enjoyed his time with the organization and was very popular in the locker room, but he wanted more security and he’s close to home. White will back up Tua Tagovailoa in Miami.

A former fifth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2018, White started seven games for the Jets the past two seasons. He had a memorable first NFL start in 2021, throwing for 405 yards and three touchdowns and catching a two-point conversion pass. Last year, he

replaced Zach Wilson in Week 12 against Chicago and threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns. White ended up fracturing his ribs in a loss to Buffalo two games later and missed three of the Jets’ remaining four games.  He ends his Jets career with eight touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.