The media circus around Aaron Rodgers during the offseason has always been justifiable for years. His MVP-level play, playoff success and guaranteed Hall of Fame production have given him infinite leeway from NFL team executives and their fans.
But in 2026, it has a completely different feel. Rodgers will be 42 at the start of the season after yet another offseason of questions about whether he is even going to play, coupled with stories of him being rumored to land with anyone from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Arizona Cardinals.
The numbers do not lie
The issue is that you can no longer say that the production totally justifies the drama. Last season, Rodgers threw for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Those are respectable numbers for most quarterbacks, but he also finished 23rd in QBR and looked far removed from the player who once elevated franchises into Super Bowl contention. After all, at what point does the year-round media circus lose its value with a quarterback who may not even have another season in him?
The waiting game is becoming difficult to justify
The greater concern here is that teams are still making Rodgers someone you completely restructure an offseason around. The Steelers spent months getting asked questions about Rodgers while playing without true quarterback direction, and now rumors of him potentially joining the Cardinals are even flying around.
It made sense in the days when Rodgers was winning MVPs and leading teams to Super Bowls. It is a harder sell today. Rodgers has not been to a Super Bowl since the 2010 season, is potentially in the final year of his career and isn’t quite the type of immediate culture and franchise-changer that he once seemed to be.
Injuries creep up as veteran QBs age
For most of his career, Rodgers was among the more durable quarterbacks in the game despite taking tons of hits along the way. With the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers was able to play through the pain and play elite-level football as a result. Since that time, though, injuries have started to pile up the way they often do with aging quarterbacks.
The biggest came in 2023 when Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles tendon four plays into his first game with the New York Jets. Rodgers came back to play in 2024 and started all 17 games while playing with some nagging ankle, knee and hamstring issues that plagued his entire season.
Reports throughout the 2025 season have shown that Rodgers played with left wrist fractures. Individually, these injuries may not be enough to say it is over, but collectively, they show a 42-year-old who doesn’t recover quite the way that he used to.
The Steelers cannot stay in QB limbo forever
The Steelers need to get off the fence sooner rather than later and embrace the future of the organization. Does it make good business sense to continually wait for a 42-year-old multiple-time injury-plagued quarterback to make up his mind on where he wants to play just months away from training camp?
Rodgers can still play well, and he can lead a locker room with veteran knowledge. However, he is only one hit away from potentially ending his career altogether. This franchise and fan base should not have to spend the offseason in suspense.
At some point, the Steelers have to decide whether they are building toward the future or simply borrowing time from the past. And for an aging quarterback with mounting injuries, the nonstop media circus no longer feels worth the distraction.
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