The Pittsburgh Steelers were waiting quite a bit for Aaron Rodgers to make a decision. Depending on who you ask, it could be a good or a bad thing. Some believe that the four-time NFL MVP still has gas left in the tank, but with no options elsewhere, Pittsburgh’s best idea is to wait for him to decide on his future.
Bill Simmons of Ringer is not one of those people. In fact, he thinks that Rogers was absolutely terrible in 2024.
“Well, he was washed away as a quarterback last year,” Simmons said Monday. Flock. “I mean, that’s an important piece of work on this. He was awful. He was good when he had protection. When he didn’t have protection, he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league.
If Aaron Rodgers likes when people talk about him, he must love life now. Now it feels like every offseason has this conversation about Rodgers. That’s part of how difficult it is to judge his recent play.
His critics, who appear to be Simmons, point to the fact that he painted his situation with the New York Jets by hand. They would say he has acquired his coach, Robert Saleja. They would be right to say that he was one of the worst quarterbacks when he faced pressure in 2024.
However, every story has two aspects. It is also true that at age 41, he took longer than usual to recover from that devastating Achilles injury. After he found rhythm again in 2024 at the back nine, he looks much better and still can throw the ball all over the field. Behind Pittsburgh’s young, promising offensive line, there is a reason for optimism so that talented receivers can use them at their disposal.
The bottom line is that the Steelers don’t need Aaron Rodgers to play like MVP again. If signed, he will join the team that made the playoffs in 2024. If Rodgers could statistically build something close to what he did in 2024, Pittsburgh would make the playoffs anyway. So they need to hope that Rogers can guide some of his magic from an early stage in his career. Currently, the Steelers have no other options.