Stephen A. Smith declares 2025 season Aaron Rodgers' swan song: 'It's over'

Aaron Rodgers, if he plays in 2025, will have his “swan song,” according to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. And that could be with the Pittsburgh Steelers as pondered.

With the New York Jets reportedly ready to move on from Rodgers, the future Hall of Famer has been pegged as a fit for the Steelers next season. Whether he even plays or not is another question.

The Steelers have a bit of a conundrum too, regarding Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. They’re expected to only bring one of them back. But if it’s Fields, Rodgers makes sense for a bridge year, per Smith.

“Number one, when I think about Russell Wilson compared to Aaron Rodgers, for the purposes of the Steelers portion of this discussion, I think about Russell Wilson looking to come to Pittsburgh to resurrect a career and potentially find a home or move on, whether it’s finding a home in Pittsburgh or somewhere else,” Smith said on First Take. “Yeah, this is it for Aaron Rogers. This is the swan song. Whether it’s a year or two, it’s over, and so that buys you a little bit of time to put Justin Fields around another veteran who played at an elite level for a very long time to learn from.”

Aaron Rodgers ending his career with Steelers?

More and more has come out about Rodgers and the decision making process regarding the 2025 season. The Athletic’s Dianni Russini reported head coach Aaron Glenn and the Jets brass wanted Rodgers to stop his Pat McAfee Show appearances if he wanted to return to New York.

Rodgers hasn’t publicly said anything about the Jets or his future recently, so fans are in limbo.

But if Rodgers intends to keep playing, which hasn’t been decided yet, it appears the future Hall of Famer was ready for a change as well, per Russini.

The Green Bay Packers traded Rodgers to the Jets in 2023, but Rodgers missed nearly all of the 2023 season due to a torn Achilles. He returned in 2024 and led the Jets to just a 5-12 record despite throwing for 3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Of course, Rodgers has put together a Hall of Fame career, finishing up his 20th NFL season following the 2024 campaign. Over that time, the veteran quarterback has thrown for over 62,000 yards with 503 touchdowns, winning four MVP awards and a Super Bowl title with the Green Bay Packers, as well.