It’s safe to say no one was surprised when quarterback Aaron Rodgers decided to drag out his decision on whether he’ll return to football in 2025. He’s had the Pittsburgh Steelers on hold all offseason, and plenty of fans are frustrated.
Rodgers turns 42 this year, and many are starting to ask whether he’s worth the wait. Should the Steelers tell him they’re done waiting? Or at the very least, should they be looking for a backup plan? That’s exactly what former Super Bowl-winning running back LeSean McCoy is worried about.
No Faith in the Fix: Aaron Rodgers Can’t Save the Pittsburgh Steelers
McCoy co-hosts the FS1 show “The Facility” with several other former pros. One of them, James Jones, actually beat the Steelers in Super Bowl 45 with Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Jones has been firmly in Rodgers’ corner and insists the veteran is still Pittsburgh’s best option in 2025.
But Rodgers, a four-time MVP, isn’t getting younger. McCoy said he didn’t think Rodgers added much to the New York Jets in 2024. He admitted Rodgers would still be better than anyone on the Steelers’ roster — mainly longtime backup Mason Rudolph and rookie Will Howard — but that doesn’t mean much to him.
“Aaron Rodgers comes and then what?” McCoy said. “The team is not a good team. He didn’t look great last year. He played OK, they didn’t win anything, they didn’t do anything. They were the same Jets they was before he got there. Same Jets. Didn’t win, no playoffs. We’re stuck on what he used to be. It’s not the same. The Steelers are gonna be third in their division this year.”
McCoy also made it clear he doesn’t believe Rodgers would make enough of a difference to get Pittsburgh past the Baltimore Ravens or Cincinnati Bengals.
.@CutOnDime25: We’re stuck on what Aaron Rodgers used to be.
“Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Kenny Pickett, you know what they all got in common? They all have a good regular season, they go to the playoffs, and they lose.” pic.twitter.com/xIx2zKG2og— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) May 26, 2025
The Steelers have struggled to find a true franchise quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season. Since then, they’ve cycled through a long list of signal-callers: Rudolph, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Russell Wilson, and Justin Fields. None of them, according to McCoy, has made a real impact.
“I’m gonna say this to set the record straight—Aaron Rodgers, Russell [Wilson], Kenny Pickett, you know what they all got in common? They have a good regular season, and they go to the playoffs, and they lose,” McCoy said, summing up Pittsburgh’s chances with Rodgers. “Aaron Rodgers is gonna walk his old a** up in there and you know what’s gonna happen? They gonna have a good regular season and lose. They are gonna go to the playoffs and lose.”
To be fair, McCoy’s criticism has some weight. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game in eight years. Their last postseason win came at the end of the 2016 season — against a pre-Patrick Mahomes Kansas City Chiefs squad.
Still, James argues the Steelers are always going to fight, and Rodgers gives them the best shot to win a playoff game.