Here we go. Again.
After weeks of speculation, Aaron Rodgers finally let the world know where he was going to play football next season, signing a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
If you thought, however, that would be the end of Rodgers news this summer you would be wrong. Because the veteran quarterback made his latest stop on ”The Pat McAfee Show” Tuesday and outlined that this will be his last season, and that there was “no better way to finish it out than with Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Of course, he did so with the quintessential Rodgers room for movement:
“I’m pretty sure this is my last season and that’s why we did the one year deal..
I’ve played twenty years and I’ve enjoyed it..
There’s no better way to finish it than with Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers” @AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/hWN5veErEH
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 24, 2025
Ah yes, the “pretty sure” qualifier.
Let’s spin this forward a few months. We get to December or so, and the Steelers are hovering around the .500 mark and another playoff spot because Tomlin is that movie villain who just will not go away no matter what you throw at him, including an aging quarterback with an eye on ayahuasca. That is when the stories will begin once more, that Rodgers “feels better than ever” and that he might entertain the thought of playing another season after all. Maybe that will come in Pittsburgh, or maybe if another team is on the cusp of playoff relevancy, he could throw some passes for them starting next summer.
It’s all, frankly, exhausting.
Why?
Because we have been down this road before. When Rodgers went into the darkness retreat as his time with the Green Bay Packers wound down, he was “90%” retiring.
Instead, he came back to play with the New York Jets.
When it was clear his time in the Big Apple was coming to a close, Rodgers again opened the door to retirement, once more on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“I was honest from the jump about where I was at mentally and some of the constraints I have in my life right now that warrant my attention,” said Rodgers in April.
“I’m open to anything and attached to nothing. Retirement could still be a possibility, but right now my focus has been — and will continue to be — on my personal life. And that’s what I’ve told the coaches. There’s still conversations that are being had. It’s all been very honest lines of communication.”
Instead, he is now back again, this time with the Steelers.
Maybe this time it is different. Maybe this time Rodgers — who reportedly tied the knot while contemplating his 2025 NFL playing status — decides to stick with the retirement plan, regardless of what he uncovers in his mind during his next darkness retreat.
Or maybe we are right back here next summer.
