Aaron Rodgers defers retirement talk, defends Mike Tomlin after loss to Texans

With a loss, an offseason begins.

And so do the questions.

On Monday night the Pittsburgh Steelers saw their 2025 NFL season come to an end at the hands of the Houston Texans and their ferocious defense. That unit racked up four sacks, an interception, and a touchdown on a fumble return after stripping Pittsburgh’s quarterback of the football.

And now the NFL world waits on the future of that quarterback.

Aaron Rodgers saw his first season in black-and-gold come to an end on a chilly night in Pittsburgh, and speculation about his future that had been building in the weeks leading up to Monday night was a theme during his post-game press conference.

Was this his final game?

Rodgers signed a one-year deal to play for the Steelers, and the 42-year-old quarterback demurred when asked about his future.

“I’m not going to make any emotional decisions,” Rodgers said. “I’m disappointed. It was such a fun year. Obviously, a lot of adversity, but a lot of fun.”

As the clocked ticked down, Troy Aikman on the ESPN broadcast noted that in his mind, this was the veteran quarterback’s final game. Aikman drew a comparison to Philip Rivers, who came out of retirement to play for the Indianapolis Colts this past season.

“I think we are watching Aaron Rodgers’ last game and what we saw of Philip Rivers this year when he came out and decided to come out of retirement and play for the Colts, who knows what next year might bring,” Aikman said during the broadcast. “He might be willing to come in at some point if a team needs a quarterback. I doubt that will happen.

“I don’t imagine he’s gonna say he wants to come back and sign with the Steelers again or with another team.”

Rodgers finished the night having completed 17-of-33 passes for 146 yards and an interception.

Last week the NFL Network reported that the Steelers are “open” to bringing Rodgers back for next season, if he wanted to continue playing. But the reason for the renewed speculation over his future stems from the quarterback’s own comments ahead of the season. Back in July Rodgers said he was “pretty sure” that the 2025 season would be his last.

“That’s why we just did a one-year deal — Steelers didn’t need to put any extra years on that or anything,” Rodgers said in July. “This was really about finishing with a lot of love and fun and peace for the career that I’ve had. I mean, I’ve played freaking 20 years, you know? It’s been a long run, and I’ve enjoyed it. What better to place to finish than in one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL with Mike Tomlin and a great group of leadership and great guys and a city that expects you to win.”

Yet, in typical Rodgers fashion, he left the door open to another season ahead of the Wild Card game against Houston.

“I’m thinking about this week, but obviously I’m 42 years old and I’m on a one-year deal,” he said to 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.

“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.”

While his play down the stretch helped the Steelers secure the AFC North title, and a playoff spot, this season was not the Aaron Rodgers we are used to seeing. He threw just 24 touchdown passes — his lowest mark over a full season in his entire career — and posted a QBR of just 44.3, which ranked 30th out of qualified NFL passers and below players such as Jaxson Dart, Kyler Murray, Spencer Rattler, Tyler Shough, and Marcus Mariota.

If this indeed was his last game, there is no question that his journey ends in Canton. Rodgers is a four-time NFL MVP, a Super Bowl Champion, and is among the NFL’s career passing leaders in yards and touchdowns.

His future was not the only topic on his mind following the loss to Houston. Rodgers was asked about the future of Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin, and his reply made his feelings about both his current, and former, head coach.

“I mean, this league has changed a lot in my 21 years,” said Rodgers. “You know, when you hear a conversation about the Mike Tomlins of the world, the Matt LaFleurs of the world, those are just two that kind of I played for, and when I first got in the league, there wouldn’t be conversation about whether those guys were on the hot seat. You know?

“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.

“And for either of those two guys to be on a hot seat is really a apropos of where we’re at as a society and a league. Because obviously Matt’s done a lot of great things in Green Bay and we had a lot of success. Mike T. has had more success than damn near anybody in the league, you know, for the last 19, 20 years.”

Pressed on Tomlin, Rodgers continued to make it clear that in his mind, Tomlin is the “right guy” in Pittsburgh.

“When you have the right guy and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change,” he continued. “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.”

Eventually, Rodgers had enough. Asked one more question about Tomlin, he departed:

Not exactly a ride into the sunset, but it might be the most fitting end for Rodgers’ career.