The end may be drawing near for one of the most decorated quarterbacks of all time.
Pittsburgh Steelers signal-caller Aaron Rodgers said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show that the upcoming 2025 season may be his final one in the NFL.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is it,” Rodgers said. “That’s why we just did a one-year deal. Steelers didn’t need to put any extra years on it or anything.”
The 41-year-old signed a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the Steelers earlier this month after two unsuccessful seasons with the New York Jets.
Before signing the deal, the Steelers and Rodgers had been circling each other for months. Rodgers even visited the team’s facility in late March, driving in undercover in a nondescript sedan wearing a hat and sunglasses.
“This was really about finishing with a lot of love and fun and peace for the career that I’ve had. I mean, I’ve played 20 freakin’ years, it’s been a long run, I’ve enjoyed it,” Rodgers said. “What better place to finish than in one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL with Mike Tomlin and a great group of leadership and great guys in a city that expects you to win?”
While the Steelers have done a fair amount of winning in recent years, making the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, they’ve been unable to advance past the wild-card round. The last time they won a post-season game was in 2016 when they advanced to the AFC Conference Championship, losing to the New England Patriots.
Much of their lack of success has been tied to their inability to find a steady solution at quarterback since the retirement of future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger in 2021. They’ve since gotten starts from Mason Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
While Rodgers isn’t the long-term solution under centre, Pittsburgh will hope that the four-time MVP has enough left in the tank, along with his veteran football IQ, to elevate an otherwise solid Steelers roster.
“A lot of decisions that I’ve made over my career and life from strictly the ego, even if they turn out well, are always unfulfilling,” Rodgers said at Steelers minicamp earlier in June. “But the decisions made from the soul are usually pretty fulfilling. So this was a decision that was best for my soul.”
The union brings Rodgers and Tomlin — the longest-tenured head coach in major professional North American sports — together after years of what is the football equivalent of flirting.
They’ve long held each other in high esteem and have enjoyed a handful of memorable on-field interactions that went viral. Last fall, they playfully nodded at each other as a sign of respect after Tomlin was forced to burn a timeout when Rodgers tried a quick snap that would have ended with the Steelers being penalized for having too many men on the field.
The Steelers, under Tomlin, have never had a losing season despite the quarterback carousel. They finished 10-7 last season, with starts split between Russell and Fields.
Heading into the 2025 campaign, Rodgers has the seventh-most passing yards of all time (62,952), the fifth-most passing touchdowns (503) and the highest-career passer rating (102.6).
— With files from the Associated Press
Source link
