Just in time for mandatory minicamp, Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers made their union official this past weekend. With Rodgers now on the roster, all heads turn towards the 2025 season, and many are wondering which version of Rodgers the Steelers will be getting. Rich Eisen has high expectations and thinks Rodgers will play similarly to the way he ended the 2024 season.
“I think it’s gonna work out,” Eisen said Monday on his Rich Eisen Show. “I have a feeling. Like the guy that we saw in December last year might have turned a physical corner.”
The 2024 season was an interesting one from Aaron Rodgers. Most of the excitement for his time in New York came before the 2023 season, during which Rodgers quickly suffered an Achilles injury. For 2024, expectations were lowered, given his age and the severity of that injury. Unsurprisingly, Rodgers and the Jets got off to a slow start and never really found their footing.
However, as Eisen alludes to, Rodgers did finish the year in solid form. Eisen points to the month of December specifically. In terms of wins and losses, that month was about as unspectacular as most of the Jets’ season. They started 2-1 but managed to win just three of their final 14 games.
From Weeks 13-18, though, Rodgers did start to look more like his former self. He threw for more than 250 yards in four of those six games, including a 339-yard showing against the Miami Dolphins, a 289-yard performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars and a 274-yard outing against the Dolphins again to end the season. During that stretch, Rodgers threw 11 touchdown passes and four interceptions.
The Steelers hope that’s the version of Aaron Rodgers they’ll be getting in 2025. There’s reason to believe that may happen. At his age, recovering from something as serious as an Achilles injury is no easy task. Rodgers appeared to look more comfortable as the 2024 season went on, with his best performances coming down the final stretch of it. That said, it’s not like he rolled through the 2024 season without bumps and bruises.
Of course, those games didn’t matter much, with New York being well out of playoff contention by that time. However, now two seasons removed from that injury and coming off his best stretch of football to end the year, the reasons for optimism are there. Rodgers is still old, though. He’ll turn 42 toward the end of the regular season. There’s reason to worry whether his body can handle a full NFL schedule. However, the Steelers already seem to be pleased with the shape he’s in.
Aaron Rodgers did manage to play all 17 games last year. If the offensive line can protect him, and he can mesh well with his supporting cast, the Steelers could be getting their best quarterback play in several years now.
