Aaron Rodgers is pushing to play in Week 12 in a matchup that could help shift the Green Bay Packers' season, but it could've been so different.
Rodgers aims to play through the pain of a fractured left wrist, as his Pittsburgh Steelers visit Soldier Field and attempt to send the Chicago Bears crashing back down to earth. Rodgers knows about winning there.
Yet instead of potentially helping the Packers, there's a world in which Rodgers could've been actively trying to bring them down as a member of the Minnesota Vikings in Week 12.
Aaron Rodgers reportedly pitched to sign with the Vikings in the offseason
Rewind to April. Rodgers remained without a team, and while signing with the Steelers always looked likely, some reports connected him to the Vikings.
That included a stunner from Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Breer reported that Rodgers had pitched the idea of making a one-year run with the Vikings while mentoring J.J. McCarthy.
"When the four-time MVP reached out to the Vikings, with the idea of making a one-year run at a Lombardi and tying it to being a willing mentor for McCarthy, the team felt it had to listen," Breer reported in April. "The proposition, of course, was different than the other two—they'd be jamming the pause button on the idea of playing McCarthy, rather than generating competition and multiple quarterback options."
Instead, Minnesota showed faith in McCarthy as its QB1, a decision that looks terrible in hindsight.
While Rodgers has looked much closer to his vintage best than he did for the New York Jets, throwing for 1,969 yards, 19 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in the Steelers' 6-4 start, McCarthy's season is spiraling into disaster.
The Vikings' 2024 first-round pick has completed just 52.9 percent of his passes for 842 yards, six touchdowns, and eight interceptions, with Minnesota going 2-3 in his starts. There are already serious questions about whether he is their QB1 of the future.
Rodgers behind a strong offensive line? With Justin Jefferson? Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor, and T.J. Hockenson? A 1-2 punch of Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason? And an elite play-caller in Kevin O'Connell?
That sounds like a winning formula. The Vikings have a long history of signing former Packers — the one former Packer they didn't sign may ultimately cost them a deep playoff run. The irony.
Now, it's important to note that the four-time MVP denied that a move to the Vikings was ever close, saying that it "never progressed farther than catch-up conversations" with O'Connell.
Regardless of how close it was (or wasn't), it's fair to say that Rodgers to Minnesota would've made sense for both sides (if he was willing to look beyond the Packers rivalry, of course). Rodgers in that Vikings offense could've sparked a Super Bowl run. He is unlikely to reach those heights in Pittsburgh, while Minnesota is left facing an early exit with McCarthy.
From a Packers' perspective, we're thankful. Watching Rodgers wear Vikings purple would've been every bit as brutal as when Brett Favre became an NFC North enemy. He would've completed the same career arc.
And the worst part is that he would've walked into Lambeau this weekend, likely on a Vikings team with a far better record than their current 4-6, aiming to hand the Packers a significant blow to their playoff chances.
That nightmare never became reality, and in an ironic twist, he could actually become a Packers hero again this week by crushing the Bears at Soldier Field. But the Rodgers-to-Vikings storyline will go down as one of those big what-if moments in the NFL.