For the past few seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t even come close to their ultimate goal of winning a championship. They haven’t even won a playoff game since the 2016 season. That fact has been haunting them, making players, coaches, and fans frustrated. However, the addition of Aaron Rodgers could change that. While age has taken a toll on Rodgers’ abilities, he’s still a quality quarterback. Even if they do have success this season, Mike Florio thinks that the Steelers should think twice about re-signing Rodgers next year.
“I also think that if they get to the Super Bowl, close to it, we could have another Aaron Rodgers year,” Florio said Monday on his podcast, Pro Football Talk. “And to Steelers fans, I would say, go back and look at what the Vikings did the year after the first Brett Favre year.
“The second Brett Favre year was not nearly as good. You’ve got to ask yourself, if you catch lightning in a bottle for that one year and everything works out, that’s not reason enough to run it back because there’s a chance it’s not going to be as good the second time.”
The comparison of Rodgers to Favre might feel a little played out, but it’s an apt one in this situation. There aren’t many quarterbacks in NFL history who have been successful after turning 40 years old. Favre is one of the few names on that list, leading the Minnesota Vikings to a record of 12-4 in 2009 at the age of 40.
That season, Favre threw for 4,202 yards, 33 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. It was a career resurgence for Favre, capped off by a heartbreaking loss in the NFC Championship game.
To be clear, Favre was not a free agent after that year. He signed a two-year deal with the Vikings. However, the point still stands that the Vikings went into the 2010 season with Favre as their starter, likely expecting to be contenders again. Unfortunately for them, that didn’t end up being the case.
Favre’s second season with the Vikings was much uglier. He started 13 games, going 5-8, and threw for 2,509 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 19 interceptions during that time. The Vikings finished that year at 6-10, and Favre proceeded to retire for the final time.
That could serve as a cautionary tale for the Steelers, as Florio suggests. Rodgers is 41 right now, a year older than Favre was in his first season in Minnesota. He also suffered a major injury in 2023. History isn’t on Rodgers’ side.
However, if the Steelers get to the AFC Championship game, it will be hard to argue against bringing Rodgers back. In that scenario, they could re-sign Rodgers but also draft his successor. That could give them the best of both worlds. They’d stick with Rodgers after he helped them win in the postseason, but their wagon wouldn’t be hitched to him.
That’s assuming Rodgers wants to play after this season. At the moment, there are too many variables to give a definitive answer on this subject. Only time will tell what Rodgers’ future holds.
