The NFL’s most nagging storyline has ended with the news that Aaron Rodgers is has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 41-year-old Rodgers parted ways with the New York Jets earlier this year, and had been linked for some time with the Steelers, who were without an established starter at quarterback. But Rodgers had given mixed signals about whether he wants to continue his career.
“I’m in a different phase of my life,” Rodgers said in April. “To make a commitment to a team is a big thing. And I don’t think it’s fair to the Steelers or anyone while I’m dealing with a lot off the field.”
Whatever those issues were appear to have been resolved, but the Steelers will not get the version of Rodgers who once cut a swathe through the NFL in his prime with the Green Bay Packers, winning four league MVP awards and a Super Bowl along the way. Rodgers’s tenure with the Jets was brief and rocky. After a torn achilles ended his 2023 debut after just four snaps, he returned in 2024 to start all 17 games. Though he threw for 3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns, the Jets finished just 5-12, and Rodgers ranked outside the top 25 in most efficiency metrics. The team sputtered to a 3-7 record in one-score games.
Rodgers’s hesitation over signing a contract had irritated many around the Steelers, including Terry Bradshaw, who led the team to four Super Bowl titles during his playing career.
“That’s a joke. That to me is just a joke,” Bradshaw said last month of the Steelers’ prolonged pursuit of Rodgers. “What are you going to do? Bring him in for one year, are you kidding me?”
Without Rodgers, the Steelers would probably have started Mason Rudolph, who recently rejoined the team from the Tennessee Titans. However, Rudolph was a modest quarterback at best during his first stint with the team.
Rodgers will face a familiar foe in Week 1 of the upcoming season: Pittsburgh are scheduled to play the Jets in their 2025 opener.
