Livescore
With Aaron Rodgers’ release from the New York Jets official, the question for Rodgers is now: What’s next?
Rodgers previously said that he’s “going to take some time” in regard to deciding his future. But that was in reference specifically to the Jets at the start of their offseason. With the Jets off the table, Rodgers has yet to publicly state his future football desires as a 41-year-old quarterback.
The wide assumption is that he’ll seek employment with another NFL team in need of a signal caller. Jason McCourty thinks that’s a bad idea. The 13-year NFL cornerback turned analyst for CBS told the Rich Eisen Show on Friday that he thinks that Rodgers should retire.
“I honestly think it’s retirement,” McCourty said. “If you’re Aaron Rodgers, what are you still playing for? It would have to only be an opportunity to go out there and compete and win a Super Bowl.
“I don’t know if there’s a team right now that you could say it makes sense that they go out and get Aaron Rodgers and now they’re that much closer to winning a Super Bowl.”
The scenario that McCourty laid out — one in which Rodgers pushes a team on the edge of contention into contention — was the idea in theory when Rodgers joined a Jets team stacked with talent on defense and at skill positions. The reality of Rodgers’ New York tenure saw him miss all but one possession of his first season with a ruptured Achilles tendon, then lead the Jets to a 5-12 record in 2024 as one of the league’s biggest disappointments.
There are several teams in search of a quarterback this offseason, most notably the Steelers, Browns, Raiders and Giants. Is a 41-year-old Rodgers on the other side of an Achilles tear really going to make a difference for any of those teams? McCourty specifically brought up the Steelers, the only one of those four to make the playoffs last season.
“A lot of people have mentioned the Pittsburgh Steelers,” McCourty said. “I don’t see them as a step away. That’s nothing against Aaron Rodgers.
“Do we feel like if they get Rodgers, they’re representing the AFC and they’re beating the Chiefs, the Bills or the Ravens or the Bengals if not for that matter — to be able to get there and represent the AFC in the Super Bowl?”
McCourty also thinks that Rodgers signing on as a “bridge quarterback” is beneath his Hall of Fame stature.
“I feel like that’s so disrespectful to refer to Aaron Rodgers as a bridge quarterback,” McCourty continued. “I don’t know at this point for him in his career, do you say, ‘you know what, I want to go out and put it all on the line’ and go through everything you go through as a professional football player to continue to play when he’s going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.”
McCourty brings up some good football points. There’s nothing to suggest at this point in his career that Rodgers is going to return to anything close to resembling his former four-time MVP form. Could he be an upgrade over Russell Wilson and Justin Fields for a Steelers team that’s proven it’s at least built to make the playoffs? Maybe?
But regardless of the football realities, the financial motivation remains strong for Rodgers. That is if he, indeed, still wants to play — and there’s a team willing to pay him.
In a league where quarterback talent scarcity reigns, there are worse ideas than a quarterback-needy team rolling the dice on a former MVP who did display competence at the position last season — even if he fell well short of his previous standards of excellence. But any team that does sign Rodgers — and its fan base — would be well-advised to keep expectations in check.
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