The Pittsburgh Steelers have been waiting quite a while for Aaron Rodgers to make a decision. Depending on who you ask, that could be a good or bad thing. Some think the four-time NFL MVP still has some gas left in the tank, and with its lack of options elsewhere, Pittsburgh’s best idea is to wait for him to decide on his future.
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is not one of those people. In fact he thinks Rodgers was downright terrible in 2024.
“Well, he was washed up last year as a quarterback,” Simmons said Monday on The Herd. “I mean, that’s a crucial piece to this. He was terrible. He was good when he had protection. When he didn’t have protection he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. I think he likes when people are talking about him.”
If Aaron Rodgers likes when people talk about him, he must be loving life right now. It feels like every offseason now we have this conversation about Rodgers, and it’s partly because of how hard it is to judge his recent play.
His critics, as Simmons appears to be, will point to the fact that he got to handpick his situation with the New York Jets, for the most part. They’ll say he got his coach, Robert Saleh, fired and essentially destroyed the Jets from within. They’ll be right to say that he was one of the worst quarterbacks when faced with pressure in 2024. At 41, they think he should be considered “washed up.”
But there are two sides to every story. It’s also true that, as a 41-year-old, he took longer than usual to recover from that devastating Achilles injury. Once he found his rhythm again on the back nine in 2024, he looked much better and can still throw the ball all over the field. Behind a young, promising offensive line in Pittsburgh, with talented receivers at his disposal, there are reasons for optimism.
The bottom line is, the Steelers don’t need Aaron Rodgers to play like an MVP again. If signed, he’ll join a team that went to the playoffs in 2024, even with a four-game losing streak to end the regular season. If Rodgers can put up stats anything close to what he did in 2024, Pittsburgh probably makes the playoffs anyway. There, they’ll have to hope Rodgers can channel some of his magic from earlier in his career. Right now, the Steelers have no other choice.
