Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is hoping to reinvent himself with the third team of his NFL career, joining the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason. The New York Jets experiment flamed out, and this very well could be the final stop of Rodgers' career.
While training camp means little in the grand scheme of things, Rodgers got off to a rough start with his new team. In his very first pass of Steelers' team drills, Rodgers was picked off in brutal fashion.
Sure, it was just one play, but Packers fans also can breathe easy knowing their team made the right call in moving on from their former long-time signal-caller.
Aaron Rodgers gave Packers more reason to feel good about the breakup
Rodgers, a first-round draft pick by the Packers in 2005, spent 18 years in Green Bay and there's no doubt that the Packers got the best he had to offer. During his near two-decade stint with the Packers, Rodgers won four MVP awards and led the Packers to a Super Bowl victory during the 2010 season.
Unfortunately, that Super Bowl victory was it for Rodgers. The Packers continued to make it to NFC title games but could never get over the hump again. In the blink of an eye, Rodgers was pushing 40 and slowly but surely going downhill.
The Packers traded him to the Jets in the 2023 offseason, where he was injured just four snaps into his New York tenure. He came back for the 2024 season and was fine, but the Jets were not a good team, even with Rodgers. Now he's hoping to prove he's still got it with the Steelers, who haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 season.
Yes, this is just one pass in a summer drill, but Packers fans still can relax a bit knowing that their team made the right call in moving on from Rodgers. Perhaps fans wouldn't feel the need to poke fun and laugh at Rodgers if he had just been traded quietly and stayed out of the spotlight, but that's not what he's done. He's continued to make sure his voice is the loudest in the room.
Maybe Rodgers' pick in practice ends up being a giant nothing burger, but for now, Packers fans are going to enjoy laughing at the former Green Bay quarterback.