It’s fair to wonder whether Aaron Rodgers is already laying the bed for something other than a return to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
When you listen to his recent comments, they don’t sound like someone planning the next chapter in the same place, at least to me.
On the surface, his comments this week were nice, appreciative, and showed he likes Pittsburgh.
However, it felt like a classic Rodgers comment, one in which we don’t know if he’ll return.
“I’m thinking about this week, but obviously I’m 42 years old and I’m on a one-year deal,” Rodgers said, per 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.”
That doesn’t sound like a guy who is fully committed. That sounds like someone aware of maybe being wanted around the league.
Rodgers didn’t say he wants to be back, which is worrisome for a player like him who seemingly has loved some drama.
However, there was praise, and that’s important to bring up.
“I’ve enjoyed this experience, and everybody in Pittsburgh has been fantastic to me on and off the field. And it’s really what I was hoping for this experience was, it’s been even better than I was hoping,” he added.
However, when veteran quarterbacks plan to return, they usually say so, or at least hint at it. Rodgers didn’t. We’ve seen him do this in the past, which is the only reason I’m a bit worried.
Right now, Rodgers isn’t committing to the Steelers. He’s keeping his options open, and rightfully so. While he might not be what he once was, and we can’t blame him due to his age, all free agents have earned the right to look at other options.
I’ll never get mad over that for any player.
However, I think the Steelers believe that if he continues to play, he’d want to be in Pittsburgh.
We’ll see if that’s the case soon enough.