Prior to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ division-deciding showdown with the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18, Aaron Rodgers acknowledged the uncertain future he faces in the NFL beyond the current campaign.
Rodgers, 42, signed a one-year deal with the Steelers over the offseason and if the Steelers don’t get a win over Baltimore, that season will end in disappointment and force Rodgers to start truly pondering his future earlier than he would have preferred.
"I'm thinking about this week, but obviously I'm 42 years old and I'm on a one-year deal," Rodgers said, via ESPN. "So you know what the situation is. Whenever the season ends, I'll be a free agent. So that'll give me a lot of options if I still want to play. I mean, not a lot of options, but there'll be options, I would think, maybe one or two, if I decide I still want to play.”
Perhaps one of those options could be remaining in Pittsburgh, a place that has surpassed his expectations thus far.
"I've enjoyed this experience, and everybody in Pittsburgh has been fantastic to me on and off the field,” Rodgers said. “And it's really what I was hoping for this experience was, it's been even better than I was hoping."
Inconsistent would be a good way to describe Rodgers and Pittsburgh’s offense this season. They’ve had their moments, but have struggled to consistently move the ball and produce points. Rodgers is confident that another year in the system would yield improvement.
"Anytime you're in a first-year offense, there's always some growing pains within the offense,” Rodgers said. “It's always like, you feel like, if you had another year, what you could do. … But obviously the more years you get in the system with the same guys, the more continuity you have, the better you feel like you can play."
Perhaps that’s Rodgers’ way of hinting that he’d like another year in Pittsburgh. Plus, he’s not necessarily wrong. There’s reason to believe that the offense would be better with some more playmakers around Rodgers.
But, even if Rodgers wants to remain in the Steel City, it would ultimately be up to the team to determine if they want to bring him back.
Both sides will have decisions to make after the season, but Steelers fans are hoping that those decisions will be delayed a bit by a playoff appearance.