With Aaron Rodgers leading the offense for the 2025 season, many Pittsburgh Steelers fans have a newfound excitement. However, most are under the assumption that it’s a one-year rental, with Rodgers himself suggesting as much recently. However, if the year ends up going well, could Rodgers convince himself to play one more season? Former NFL WR Andrew Hawkins thinks that’s a possibility.
“I think he will make the playoffs. I think we’re gonna see a version of Aaron Rodgers that we haven’t seen in the last few years… I think that version of Aaron Rodgers is gonna mesh well with what Pittsburgh has, and they’ve upgraded a lot of their positions. He’s gonna enjoy it so well that the Steelers’ fan base is gonna embrace him, and that it actually won’t be his last year. I think he comes back for one more,” Hawkins said on ESPN’s Get Up on Monday.
For some players, even ones who have an impressive resume like Rodgers, they don’t get to decide their own retirement. If the Steelers weren’t interested in Rodgers this offseason, that decision might have been made for him. Looking at the 2025 season, the way Rodgers plays will go a long way in deciding that.
Even after tearing his Achilles in 2023, there was a lot of hype around Rodgers and the Jets in 2024. However, that was short-lived. Despite getting out to a 2-1 start, Rodgers and the Jets would go on to plummet out of playoff contention in the midst of a long losing steak. At that time, Rodgers looked like a shell of his former self.
That version of him wouldn’t have had any teams clamoring for him this offseason. And he certainly didn’t have a ton of suitors. However, Rodgers did finish the year on a high note. Even though the games didn’t matter, he looked good enough at the end of the season to convince the Steelers to wait for him for several months this offseason.
At the end of the day, even if Rodgers looks like he did to end the 2024 season, it’s still going to be hard to compete in the AFC North. Hawkins’ colleague at ESPN, Mike Tannenbaum, has been on the record with his lack of excitement for Rodgers being on the Steelers this year. Refuting that argument Monday, Hawkins thinks Pittsburgh didn’t have many other options that could compete in the division.
“I think there’s three teams that make the playoffs out of the AFC North,” Hawkins said. “And to Mike T’s [Tannenbaum] point, yes, Aaron Rodgers is the third-best quarterback in the division. But I would argue with the exception of one, maybe two quarterbacks, every quarterback that would go into that division would be the third-best quarterback.”
Hawkins makes a decent point here. It really shows the struggle the Steelers have competing with the likes of Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson in their own division. And Hawkins is right. No matter who Pittsburgh would have at quarterback this year, they would have been the third-best signal caller in the division. That doesn’t mean the Steelers were wrong to pick Rodgers.
Even if the Steelers were to use the draft for their quarterback, they’d still be third-best on arrival. Until they manage to develop a quarterback who can compete with Burrow and Jackson, they’ll be in the same situation.
For now, they hope Rodgers and his experience can help them compete. All things considered, they should be able to do that. Pittsburgh narrowly lost the division to Baltimore a season ago. The Steelers ended above Cincinnati in second place. With what they hope is an improvement at quarterback, things could be even better for the Steelers in 2025.
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