As the Pittsburgh Steelers played the waiting game with Aaron Rodgers, the decision for the mercurial quarterback, which he acknowledged last week in his first press conference as a Steeler, came down to either playing in Pittsburgh or not playing at all. And even as Rodgers prepares for his first season in black-and-yellow, there are some who believe his time in Pittsburgh—and his remaining years in the NFL—could be brief.
Consider two-time Super Bowl champion and Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger among them. Roethlisberger, during a recent episode of his podcast Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger, said he thinks 2025 could be Rodgers's final season in the league.
"I don't think he's got much more after this year," Roethlisberger said. "I think this might be it for him. Personally. You could ask, 'How do I know?' I don't know. I'm just guessing. In terms of, you're coming off an Achilles—Coming off my elbow, my first year back, I felt like I was 100[%]—I wasn't even [close]. You don't realize that you're not 100 until the next year when you are 100.
"...He’s going to feel better, but it doesn’t mean that he’s going to have two or three years left. I think this might be his last go."
Rodgers indeed missed the entirety of the 2023 campaign—what was to be his first season with the New York Jets—after suffering a season-ending Achilles tear just four snaps into his tenure in the Big Apple. Then in 2024, Rodgers played through a variety of ailments as the Jets spiraled to a 5-12 record, resulting in the firing of coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas, and the eventual release of the veteran QB.
Roethlisberger referenced his own recovery from a season-ending elbow injury in 2019 to make the point that Rodgers may indeed feel healthier in 2025 than he did at any point in 2024, but that it doesn't mean that said good health will extend the timeline of his career.
Besides, it sounds like Rodgers, who signed a one-year contract with Pittsburgh, isn't looking too far into the future anyway. It's entirely possible that Roethlisberger could be right on the money and 2025 could be the final curtain call for the 41-year-old Rodgers, who turns 42 in December.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ben Roethlisberger Predicts When Aaron Rodgers Will Retire After Steelers' Signing.
