Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is expected to play his 22nd and final NFL season this year, marking the end of a career that’ll likely see him don a Golden Jacket one day. With season preparations well underway, however, some aren’t buying into Rodgers’s claims.
Skip Bayless Flames Aaron Rodgers’ ‘Pathetic’ Claims About Retirement
Ever since his run with the Green Bay Packers came to an end after the 2022 season, rumors about Rodgers’ retirement have dominated every offseason. While he has since had a two-year stint with the New York Jets, before a year with the Steelers, the road seems to be coming to an end.
Rodgers said in a press conference, “This is it,” referring to the 2026 season as his last in the NFL. However, veteran analyst Skip Bayless isn’t buying into the hype around the four-time NFL MVP’s supposed final season.
He detailed the situation on “The Arena: Gridiron.”
“He has been a shell of his MVP self for the last three years of starting, going back to his final year in Green Bay,” Bayless said. “They said no to Aaron Rodgers for a reason — can’t move, he doesn’t wanna get touched. So the ball is gonna come out faster than anybody in the league last year — he led the league at 2.2 seconds getting rid of the football. And the QBR is just gonna drop… Now he’s in the mid-20s every year. It’s pretty pathetic to watch.”
The veteran recorded a 44.4 QBR in 2025, with a 71.1 PFSN QB Impact score, which ranked 29th in the league. He is understandably on the tail end of his career, supporting an argument that 2026 will indeed be his last campaign in the pros.
Bayless, however, explained why he’s not sold on what the quarterback is selling.”One thing I do know about Aaron, like everybody else, he does love his money, so he took low last year, and they doubled his salary,” he said.
“If they slip into the playoffs again and lose to Houston again badly in the first playoff game, I just think they’ll say, ‘Aaron, we need you, we’ll upgrade [your salary], we need you back because you’re Aaron Rodgers. You are a big draw, and let’s get you and Mike — year 2 together and see what happens. We’ll pay you $50 million next year,'” Bayless added.
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Rodgers certainly isn’t in Pittsburgh’s long-term plans, but the franchise has a couple of cards it can play once the quarterback finally retires. Ohio State product Will Howard and Penn State’s Drew Allar are waiting in the wings, and the 2027 NFL Draft is expected to be the most quarterback-heavy in a long time.
How the Steelers approach the situation will be interesting to see.
