Can Rodgers return to the playoffs with Steelers?

The Pittsburgh Steelers are counting on Aaron Rodgers to lead them into the playoffs for a third straight season, but the 41-year-old quarterback hasn't been the postseason himself since the 2021 season.

Rodgers last made the playoffs in his second to last season with the Green Bay Packers, guiding the team to a 13-3 record to clinch the NFC's top seed before falling in the divisional round to the San Francisco 49ers, 13-10. 

The four-time NFL MVP lost his final game with the Packers, falling to the Detroit Lions in Week 18, to miss on a playoff berth. He joined the New York Jets in the 2023 off-season and things went far from planned in the Big Apple. 

Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon in his opening game with the Jets, missing the remainder of the season as the team limped to a 7-10 record. 

With the star quarterback back healthy last season, expectations were high for the Jets, but things quickly went off the rails again. Head coach Robert Saleh was fired after a 2-3 start to the campaign and interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich went 3-9 after replacing him. Despite having Rodgers back, the Jets regressed to a 5-12 record. 

Statistically, Rodgers had a fine season, completing 63 per cent of his passes for 3,897 yards with 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions - tied for the third-highest total of a 20-year career that has rarely seen him turn the ball over. 

For the Jets, though, the decision was made to enter a new era with Aaron Glenn being named head coach and Darren Mougey as taking over general manager. 

Rodgers fumed in April during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, where Rodgers is a frequent guest, over how the Jets approached letting him know his time with the team was done. 

"I figured that when I flew across country on my own dime that there was going to be a conversation," Rodgers said. "And the confusing thing to me -- and the strange thing -- was when I went out there, I meet with the coach, we start talking, he runs out of the room. I'm like, 'That's kind of strange.'

"Then he comes back with the GM and I'm like, 'All right.' So, we sit down in the office, and I think we're going to have this long conversation. I've flown across the country and, 20 seconds in, he goes ... 'So, do you want to play football?' And I was like, 'Yeah, I'm interested.' And he said, 'We're going in a different direction at quarterback.'

"I was kind of shocked. Now I'm not shocked because I didn't think that was a possibility. Listen, of course, if they want to move on, that's totally fine, but shocked because I just flew across country. You could have told me this on the phone if we weren't even going to have a conversation."

Rodgers said he was especially displeased by Glenn's notion that the veteran quarterback would undermine his new head coach. Asked to explain the decision to release him, Rodgers quoted Glenn as saying, "I don't want to be up in front of the room saying something and have guys looking back at you" -- meaning, Rodgers would be a distraction.

"I said, 'What does that even mean? Are you assuming that I would be in the back of the room during a team meeting, undermining what you're saying?' I said, 'You don't know me.' And he said, 'You don't know me.' And then I said, 'Exactly, which is why I flew across the country to have a face-to-face meeting with you to talk about my experience with the Jets and to hear your vision for the team,'" Rodgers explained,

On to Pittsburgh 

After spending much of the off-season after his release from the Jets weighing his future, Rodgers officially joined the Steelers in June, bringing a media circus to the team's minicamp.

Among the topics surrounding his return was a Rodgers revealing that he's been married for a couple of months, but has yet to publicly confirm the identity of his wife. Speculation of his marriage began when the Steelers announced the signing with a photo of him that featured an apparent wedding ring on his left hand. During Pittsburgh's minicamp, Rodgers was seen practicing with a ring on the ring finger on his left hand -- the opposite of his throwing hand.

He signed a one-year, $13.65 million contract to play his 21st season. 

"I don't need it for my ego," Rodgers said of joining the Steelers. "I don't need it to keep playing. A lot of decisions that I've made over my career and life from strictly the ego, even if they turn out well, are always unfulfilling. But the decisions made from the soul are usually pretty fulfilling.

"This was a decision that was best for my soul, and I felt like being here with coach [Mike Tomlin] and the guys that got here and the opportunity here was the best for me and I'm excited to be here."

Tomlin has been credited with extracting the most success possible out of a Steelers team that has been without a franchise quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 campaign. The 53-year-old has never had a losing season in his 18 seasons as a head coach, all with Pittsburgh. 

The Steelers, however, have not won a playoff game since 2016, despite five trips to the postseason in the eight years since. 

"It starts with Mike Tomlin," Rodgers said. "I've been a fan of his for a long time. There's a few iconic franchises in the NFL. I played for one of 'em for 18 years. This is another one of those. There's something special about obviously this area. So many great quarterbacks are from Pittsburgh. I feel like Pittsburgh has been a part of my career from the beginning."

Whether the two future Hall of Famers can rediscover success together remains to be seen. 

The Steelers are -125 to post under 8.5 wins this season at FanDuel, are +140 to make the playoffs and a +4300 long-shot to win the Super Bowl. 

Pittsburgh will open their season on Sept. 7 in New York against the Jets, setting up a revenge game for Rodgers. The Steelers will host the Packers on Oct. 26 as the quarterback faces both of his former teams in the first two months of the campaign.