Sportsnaut
The Pittsburgh Steelers are pinning their hopes on a 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers discovering the fountain of youth in hopes of leading the franchise back to the Super Bowl.
Rodgers is coming off two tumultuous years with the New York Jets. In 2023, he suffered a season-ending Achilles injury after just four plays into the regular season. Last year, the aging quarterback went 5-12, throwing for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions as the Jets missed the playoffs for a 14th consecutive season.
Head coach Mike Tomlin and company put all their eggs into Rodgers’ basket as the Steelers allowed last year’s starting quarterbacks — Russell Wilson and Justin Fields — to leave in free agency following a 10-7 season and a Wild Card round loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
In an interview with Sportsnaut, Steelers Now reporter Derrick Bell laid out the challenges Rodgers’ age will present during 2025.
“At his age, it’s gonna be a question of: how much does he have left physically?” said Bell. “But one thing about Rodgers — extremely detail oriented, gonna hold everybody on the offense to a very high standard, and then still, even with the mobility declining, you can still see the arm strength, the quick release and things like that, so there are definitely positives that he’s gonna bring to this offense.”
Another issue Rodgers will face is Pittsburgh’s inadequate line play. Sharp Football Analysis ranked the Steelers offensive line at No. 26, and they allowed the ninth-most sacks in 2024 with 49. Rodgers was sacked 40 times last year with the Jets.
“I think with Rodgers, just over the course of his career, he’s always been a really electric playmaker on the second reaction plays,” noted Bell. “I think that was probably the biggest dip in his play last season was just that inability to kind of make those quick twitch reactions and get out of pocket. I think the idea is that you can kind of turn him into this like point guard, point-and-shoot type of playmaker.”
Bell points out, though, that the Steelers should compete for a playoff spot.
“Now what happens beyond that when they get in there it really just is gonna depend on matchups,” said Bell. “I think it’s really tough to see this team as currently constructed being able to be high-powered enough offensively to be able to go toe to toe with the likes of Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, because when you’re going up against those guys in the postseason, you’re gonna have to be able to put up 30 points and you’re gonna have to do it on the road, more than likely, because those teams are probably gonna win the division, so it’s a really tough ask.”
Pittsburgh’s season opens Sept. 7 as Rodgers and the Steelers travel to the Meadowlands to face the Jets.
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