At 41 years old and nearly two years removed from a torn Achilles, there are a lot of question marks surrounding new Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers, as far as what he has left to offer on the field at this point in his career.
He’s not able to move around and buy time in the pocket and play out of structure like he once did during the height of his career as a four-time NFL MVP, but he still has a great arm and a quick release, and can still process quickly post-snap and read defenses among the best of them.
The Steelers are banking on him being a good quarterback in 2025, which is why they were willing to wait for him to make a decision while dealing with some personal issues away from the field. Now that he’s signed on the dotted line though and is the starting quarterback for the Steelers, there’s an excitement building regarding the veteran quarterback.
For ESPN’s Louis Riddick, who appeared on The Rich Eisen Show Friday, he believes that Rodgers just needs to focus on playing football in Pittsburgh, and that being able to just focus on ball will clear his mind and let him play at a high level for the Black and Gold.
Riddick also added that Rodgers won’t “cheat” the Steelers at his age, and will give everything that he has left to give due to the respect for the franchise, Mike Tomlin, and the game, something Rodgers talked about during his introductory press conference Tuesday.
“When you’re there and you put on that helmet and you wear those colors and you walk through that facility, you just wanna play ball, man. That’s really what it’s all about there. And I don’t think there’s any team that you can say that any more about than Pittsburgh, and I think that’s exactly what Aaron needs and I think you’ll get the best that he’s got to give at this point,” Riddick said of Rodgers in Pittsburgh, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “At 40-plus years old, that is exactly what you’ll get. …I don’t think he’s gonna cheat you in any way as far as what he’s gonna give you. I think he will wring the rag dry, so to speak, to use a metaphor as far as what he’s got left.
“And I think that’s gonna be pretty good. And I think it’ll make Pittsburgh pretty, pretty interesting.”
After two tough seasons in New York, which included missing the entire 2023 season due to the torn Achilles tendon four snaps into the season, Rodgers is seemingly looking for a fresh start, as New York certainly wore on him physically and mentally. He was expected to be the savior for the moribund franchise, but he was anything but that, and the 2024 season was a disaster as there were more deep investigative stories regarding the Jets and the behind-the-scenes stuff than there was actual wins in the season.
Now, he comes to Pittsburgh where he’s another year removed from injury, gets to play under a head coach he has a great deal of respect and admiration for, and steps into a system under and offensive coordinator he has a previously relationship with off the field.
It seems like a great situation Rodgers is stepping into, especially with a young offensive line in front of him that is improving and has quite a bit invested in it, not to mention a team built around running the football and taking pressure off the passing game.
In Pittsburgh, Rodgers just has to focus on football. He doesn’t need to be a star, doesn’t need to be the voice and certainly doesn’t need to be the savior. He just needs to come in, focus on football and be the best version of himself. If he can do that, Riddick believes Rodgers will be pretty good, which in turn will make the Steelers pretty interesting during the 2025 season.
