Steelers president explains how Mike Tomlin’s shock exit could shape Aaron Rodgers’ future, as Pittsburgh faces pivotal decisions at quarterback
If Aaron Rodgers still has another season left in him, he may have to find a new home.
Steelers owner Art Rooney II indicated that Rodgers may not return to Pittsburgh should he decide to play another season in the wake of Mike Tomlin stepping down as coach.
“Aaron came here to play for Mike, so I think it will most likely affect his decision,” Rooney said Wednesday.
Aaron Rodgers during Monday’s game.
Rodgers, 42, has not said whether he will return for a 22nd season after saying June he was “pretty sure” this would be his final year in the NFL.
He enjoyed a solid season with Pittsburgh, leading the team to a 10-7 record and an AFC North championship while throwing for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns.
The season ended unceremoniously Monday night in a 30-6 wild-card home loss to the Texans and Rodgers said he would be taking his time to deicde.
“I’m not going to make any emotional decisions,” Rodgers said after a poor showing against a tough Texans defense. “At this point, obviously such a fun year. A lot of adversity, but a lot of fun. Been a great year overall in my life in the last year, and this is a really good part of that, coming here and being part of this team. So, it’s disappointing to be sitting here with the season over.”
The future Hall of Famer has often mentioned how much he respected Tomlin from afar before finally receiving the chance to play for him.
In his postgame presser, Rodgers spoke glowingly of Tomlin before storming off after a second straight question regarding the coach’s future.
He also railed against the idea that Tomlin and his former coach, Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur, could somehow be on the hot seat.
Mike Tomlin before Monday’s loss.
“But the way that the league is covered now and the way that there’s snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who make it seem like they know what the hell they’re talking about, to me that’s an absolute joke,” Rodgers said Monday. “And for either those two guys to be on the hot seat is really apropos of where we’re at as a society and a league…
“Mike T. has had more success than damn near anybody in the league for the last 19, 20 years. More than that, though, when you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change, but there’s a lot of pressure that comes from the outside and obviously that sways decisions from time to time. But it’s not how I would do things and not how the league used to be.”
Should Rodgers decide to leave Pittsburgh and keep playing, it’s hard to project where he could land.
There will be quarterback openings among some of the worst teams in the league as usual, but retirement could be more preferable than that route.
The Dolphins, Colts and Vikings represent three teams that missed the playoffs while winning at least seven games and perhaps could eye a quarterback this offseason.
