Aaron Rodgers talks Green Bay, Matt LaFleur in his postgame presser last night.

I know we’ve said this a bunch on the pod before, it’s possible we’ve written about it as well, but I want to make sure it’s committed to internet blogging record: I am, and always have been, and Aaron Rodgers guy. I know we all suffered from Rodgers fatigue by the end of his time in Green Bay, it was clearly time for both him and the franchise to move on, but I still pulled for him (and gambled on him)(to my detriment) in New York and I found myself rooting for him in Pittsburgh as well. Even though we witnessed a TON of playoff heartbreak during his tenure in Green Bay, we also had way more fun Sunday’s than sad Sunday’s during his 18 years in Titletown.

So after the Steelers got WOMPED last night in the Wild Card round, the natural question for Rodgers was, is this it? It will shock you to find out that Rodgers was (understandably) non-committal. He said he needs to take some time, maybe hit up a darkness retreat, consult his possibly fake wife, etc. before he makes a decision on if he’s going to play in 2026.

But if that is it? Not a bad way to go out. I don’t think anyone wanted their last memory of Rodgers in the NFL to be the two years he spent with the Jets. So landing at a heritage franchise like the Steelers, winning a division title and playing in his first playoff game since 2021 wouldn’t be a bad coda for his career.

I do think there’s a small chance he ends up playing for Pittsburgh again in 2026, if only because he was solid again this season and it’s not like the Steelers have a young, hotshot quarterback on the rise behind him. He did make mention before Week 18 that he felt like there would be a ‘few’ options for him at the end of the season. I have no idea what he would be referencing there, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that the Vikings would give him a call given what we saw from JJ McCarthy and Max Brosmer this year. Could be go full Favre? I doubt it, but perhaps.

Either way, whether it’s this summer or next, I do anticipate a one-day contract back in Green Bay to retire a Packer. And that’s as it should be. Even if you were tired of him for the last few years he was in Green Bay, I don’t think there’s any real animosity toward Rodgers the way there was with Favre. It doesn’t feel like there’s going to need to be a ‘few years’ before he would be welcomed back.  They’ll roll out the red carpet and he’ll get the standing O he deserves.

PS: Idea: When a retiring player signs a one-day contract to retire with the team he started with, they should let that player play in a preseason game if they want to. Could you imagine the reception at the Bishop’s Charites Game in August if Rodgers played his last half of NFL football??

Double PS: Clearly he wasn’t the caliber of player he was in Green Bay during last season in New York and this season in Pittsburgh, but he wasn’t bad either. He threw for over 7,000 yards and 52 touchdowns with a QB rating of about 92 in his early 40’s. To quote Adam Sandler from The Hanukkah Song, “not too shabby.”