After 21 seasons in the NFL, Monday night felt like the end for former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers' bid for a final act with the Pittsburgh Steelers came up short as he completed 17-of-33 passes for 146 yards and an interception returned for a touchdown in a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans. While Rodgers was wearing black and gold, it didn’t stop him from thinking about his time in green and gold after the game as he looked back on his time in Green Bay.
“I was fortunate enough to play in an incredible football city for 18 years,” Rodgers said via Packers team writer Weston Hodkiewicz. “I never took it for granted. I enjoyed that time there and this has been a really beautiful backend to that first 18 [seasons]. There’s only a few really special places in the league that have the tradition and the town and the organization, and I’m thankful to have played for two of them.”
Rodgers talking in the past tense about Green Bay and Pittsburgh – and completely ignoring his two years with the New York Jets – makes it sound like a player who realizes his career ran its course. But Packers fans have been here before. As he appears to head off into the sunset (or another darkness retreat), the possibility of a 22nd season is still there, and the Packers should be preparing for Rodgers to shake up the NFC North and sign with the Minnesota Vikings.
Vikings Could Re-Open Pursuit of Aaron Rodgers This Offseason
Each offseason has its share of desperate teams looking for a quarterback, and the Vikings are one of the teams back in the mix. Minnesota took a gamble with 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, and his play as a bottom-five starter took an infrastructure that may have been good enough to make the playoffs and ran it into the ground with a 4-8 start before winning their final five games.
Those final five games were against teams booking trips to Cancun and a Packers team that was more focused on its upcoming run to the playoffs. But according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, it hasn’t stopped them from seeking to add a veteran to the quarterback room this offseason. Although they “have no plans to move on from the quarterback they traded up to draft less than two years ago.”
Even if the Vikings don’t want to move on from McCarthy, their options are slim. A trade for Joe Burrow is more likely in a Madden franchise. A trade for Mac Jones would require giving a Day 2 pick to the San Francisco 49ers. Malik Willis and Lamar Jackson do not fit with Kevin O’Connell’s desire to have his quarterback work from the pocket, and Kirk Cousins may prefer a destination where he is the true starter if released by the Atlanta Falcons.
Unless the Vikings want to take a flier on Jimmy Garoppolo or Gardner Minshew, Rodgers makes sense as an option that Russini and her colleague Michael Silver reported had genuine interest in joining Minnesota last spring before both parties agreed it wasn’t the right fit at the time as the Vikings feared it would get in the way of McCarthy’s development, per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
Tom Brady’s Second Act Could Influence Aaron Rodgers’s Path to Minnesota
Looking at it now, the Vikings could be an attractive destination for Rodgers if he decides to return next season. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson would give Rodgers a quality cast of weapons. He’d also play behind an offensive line that should be better, as offensive tackle Christian Darrisaw is a year removed from a multiligament knee injury. The Vikings’ defense is good enough to lighten the load on Rodgers, ranking third in total defense and seventh in scoring defense last season, creating the same recipe that helped him take the Steelers to the playoffs.
But an even bigger precedent could be the one that led Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. With Mike Evans and Chris Godwin at receiver and a championship-caliber defense backing him up, Brady was an immediate upgrade over Jameis Winston, leading the Bucs to win the Super Bowl, defeating Rodgers and the Packers in the NFC Championship Game at the age of 43.
With Rodgers’ final pass on Monday being a pick six, it’s possible he could drink some special tea, climb into a cave, and envision himself hoisting a Lombardi Trophy wearing a Vikings jersey. It’s a thought that could have fans laughing at how desperate their rivals have become, but also something the Packers need to prepare for heading into next season.
After contemplating retirement since the 2022 season, this could finally be the year he actually follows through. But there’s a chance that Rodgers could see one more run in him and follow Brett Favre’s footsteps to Minnesota.