Buy or Sell: The one-year Aaron Rodgers shelf life is an advantage for the Steelers.
Explanation: With Aaron Rodgers all but announcing his retirement after the 2025 season, the Steelers at least have a timetable. They know this is almost assuredly a one-year rental, and so better make the most of it. Rodgers, too, in theory will find himself motivated to give his all to this season. He all but said as much recently—but will retirement thoughts creep in during trying moments?
Buy:
There is no downside to Aaron Rodgers openly playing with the Steelers this season knowing he will likely retire after the year is over. Pittsburgh is almost assuredly only counting on one season out of him anyway, looking to go big in the 2026 draft. They don’t want or need a partnership of more than one season, so the scenario is ideal.
Importantly, the final season should only motivate Rodgers to make the most of the opportunity. If there is no 2026 season, then he has to accomplish everything left in front of him in 2025. It’s really that simple—time has a way of cutting things down to size. There is the phrase, “now or never”, and it very much applies here.
Sell:
I see two very significant potential downsides to Aaron Rodgers playing with retirement on his mind. One, while he may intend to “empty the tank” this season, he may find the tank nearly empty. When the Steelers are struggling and he is the subject of scrutiny, why would he, acknowledging he has nothing to prove to anybody, fight through all of that and really try to play his absolute best football to climb out of that valley? It’s so much easier to give in.
The other problem is a more optimistic one, which is the possibility of Aaron Rodgers playing exceedingly well. What if he looks somewhat like the Aaron Rodgers of old and the Steelers want to bring him back? Could we be in for another prolonged offseason courtship as he teeters on the brink of formally retiring? He may not have followed Brett Favre to Minnesota, but he could play the will-he-or-won’t-he game. And that could, at least potentially, make the Steelers hesitate on making some other move at quarterback.
The Steelers are building toward the 2025 season, following yet another disappointing year. While they reached the playoffs, they once again lost decisively in the first round. They are facing questions, both publicly, and perhaps privately as well. Questions about The Standard, and what the Steelers stand for.
The rookie class of a year ago was successful, but they need to step up into staple starters in 2025. And they need everyone healthy to do it, not an insignificant consideration. They needed a strong influx of talent in both free agency and in the 2025 NFL draft yet again.
These sorts of uncertainties are what we will address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, we will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
