What does future hold for Rodgers?
Mike Florio and Devin McCourty discuss Aaron Rodgers' future after the Steelers' loss to the Texans, examining the quarterback's potential fit with the Vikings and more.
Video Transcript
Aaron Rodgers also has his future in question.
Here he is addressing what comes next for him.
Playing career after last night's game.
No, I mean, I'm not going to make any emotional decisions.
I'm disappointed.
You know, obviously.
It's been such a fun year.
You know, a lot of adversity, but a lot, a lot of fun.
It's been a great year, overall, my life in the last...
Uh, late last year, and this is, you know, a really good part of that.
Coming here and being a part of this team.
So it's disappointing to be sitting here, Uh, with the season over.
So yeah, that's smart.
You're not going to make an emotional decision.
He said there will be proper conversations and discussions.
And he was asked if he wants to continue to play in Pittsburgh.
And he said, "I'm not going to get into that right now."
He did start down that week, where he mused about what a second year in the offense would mean.
He mentioned that he'll have a couple of options in free agency if he wants to pursue.
That path.
The other alternative is to just call.
It's a career in the year that he'll turn 43, December 2nd.
I believe.
Tom Brady played until he was 45.
Tom Brady always said he would play until he was 45.
Aaron Rodgers has never said with certainty that he'll play that long.
But he could have one more year in him.
In the right spot with the right team, He's going to want to contend.
He's not going to want to go to a team like Arizona that has a long way to go before it can contend, all due respect to Arizona.
But I think that it's going to be just like last year.
And it's not going to be quick; he's going to take his time.
And he's going to have a reason for taking his time.
He's going to have a reason for falling off the grid.
It's weird.
More to say about Aaron Rodgers.
Over the balance of this segment, but I'm reminded of a vibe that I picked up at some point last year, because he likes to complain about people talking about him.
I think part of the plan is by disappearing, strategically disappearing.
You get people talking about you, and you want that.
Then you want to complain.
That people are talking about you.
And here we are.
The morning after what may have been his last game ever.
And we're already talking about him, even though he's said nothing so far.
I think that he won't be bashful about walking away.
But he, I think he is going to have options.
And as I said, With the Steelers, first question is, will Tomlin be back?
If he's not, he's going to have to go somewhere else.
But when you look around the NFL, There are enough teams that could use help, that somebody's at least going to consider it.
Possibility of bringing him in.
Yeah.
And when you look at who Aaron Rodgers is now, But who he's been his whole career, I think all football people knew what Pittsburgh had offensively wasn't really the ideal offensive situation for Aaron Rodgers.
Even the first question was, "How is Arthur Smith's offense going to work?"
With Aaron Rodgers on what he likes to do, you know, all the shifts and motions.
And running the ball first, compared to spreading it out.
Let him see it?
And we saw Week 1 against the Jets, It was like this beautiful blend, and at that time, I think we all thought, Man, like, "This is a really good Jets defense with Aaron Glenn."
who was a really good defensive coordinator."
And it was like, Man, Pittsburgh's offense looked good Week 1.
So I think it...
It makes all of us wonder, like, man, okay, Minnesota seemed like they had, You know, messed around and flirted with the idea of having Aaron Rodgers, And you look at what they have, if they can really get the offensive line shored up, And if they can stay healthy, if they can protect, and you're like, Man, Hawkinson, Jordan Addison.
Oh yeah, man.
Justin Jefferson, all these different people, like, all these different people.
You're like, "Man, that just seems like we might see a different version of Aaron."
Rodgers."
Because he had times this year where it was like, Yeah, we know he's older, and I think the thing about older players, It's harder, week in and week out, to look your absolute best and play at a high level.
But then you start to think, I always think about Brady.
Like he went from playing in New England, now you go down to sunny Tampa.
And now you're gonna play, you know, happier games in Florida and Tampa Bay.
Then you're gonna play in a division where you're gonna play New Orleans in a dome.
You're gonna go play Carolina.
That's not, you know, it's not as cold.
Like, you're gonna play Atlanta in a dome, and you think about it, You know, if he gets down to Minnesota, eight games in a dome.
He'll play Detroit in a dome.
Like, yeah, you still got Chicago & GB.
Are part of there, but it's just, I do think there's something left that if he I want to do this again.
I think there's a section of Yep, he would sign up to play for Tomlin again, and maybe, Maybe he wants to stay in one location.
But I do think, I do think, in the back of his mind, he has to sit there and say, Does Minnesota wonder, "Man, maybe we should have brought him in?"
Maybe we should have said, "Hey, let's go with a veteran this year and" and see what happens?'
Now, I do think they had, they got banged up on the O-line, Which would have still been, made it rough, but, you know.
Maybe there's a chance Mike Florio would've been really happy Aaron Rodgers his quarterback of his favorite team, and we could have made that run.
So, that to me is the biggest question mark.
I think if Minnesota gets in this, there's a chance.
He still takes his time, and I think if I was his age, And I was him, like, I'd probably skip the offseason.
Too.
And I know that's really controversial when You're a quarterback, you want to take over a team for one year.
But, um, I do think there's a chance that he does want to stay.
I don't want to do the offseason.
I want to do it on my time.
But I do think of Minnesota as a really good destination for him.
I don't know how happy I would have been.
There's a chance I would have been sick.
Today, because the pick-six that Aaron Rodgers threw last night would have been while wearing a purple helmet.
The reality as it relates to the 2025 decisions made by the Vikings, and Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com had a deep dive.
Into how the Vikings got to where they ended up, with J.J. McCarthy and backups.
In lieu of having a viable veteran available, that's where the Vikings went.
Wrong in 2025.
They didn't want Sam Darnold.
They wanted Daniel Jones.
That didn't work out.
And they said, "No, thank you" to Aaron Rodgers.
Part of that report indicated Vikings were concerned that J.J. McCarthy would learn bad habits from Aaron Rodgers.
Rodgers basically does whatever he wants to do.
And I just don't know that you swing it around a year later.
It makes sense.
McCarthy's played enough now that I think it's Very difficult to say, "Year three of your career, you're not playing at all."
I think Aaron Rodgers is the right fit this year because you're not handing him keys.
And Aaron Rodgers isn't going to want to play for you unless you hand him keys.
The Vikings need a viable veteran with real starting experience who at best will compete.
With J.J. McCarthy and possibly not play, but always be ready to come in and play.
So, I'm not sure that works.
And I don't know.
Maybe they have an open competition with Aaron Rodgers and JJ McCarthy McCarthy's on the bench.
Maybe they do.
I don't know.
But it is at least one of the teams that Makes sense, because the blip was there last year.
As it relates to Pittsburgh, as I said, Mike Tomlin, if he's not back, It's not going to matter.
