It feels like Groundhog Day for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Once again, they find themselves waiting to see if Aaron Rodgers wants to play again. While Omar Khan doesn’t expect the wait for Rodgers to last as long as it did last year, there’s no guarantee that the quarterback will make a decision soon. Still, the Steelers seem content running it back with Rodgers. Former NFL DL Booger McFarland doesn’t understand that, though.

“Maybe they just play the quarterback that they drafted last year in Will Howard,” McFarland said Wednesday on ESPN’s NFL Live. “Why do we continue to try to get grandpa off the rocking chair and put him back in the lineup? At some point, we have to come to the conclusion that a 42-year-old quarterback just doesn’t want to get hit anymore.

“He can play in a two or three-game stretch, but from a 17-game standpoint, Aaron Rodgers ain’t giving you nothing anymore. I think it’s time for the Steelers to move on… I’m tired of seeing Aaron Rodgers limp out there and us get all these great expectations. ‘Is he going to conjure back up the MVP status?’ Hell no, he’s not, he’s old.”

If Rodgers returns to the NFL, he’ll once again be the oldest player in the league after Philip Rivers took that title from him for a few weeks last year. It isn’t often that quarterbacks continue to play well into their 40s. In fact, only Tom Brady has really found success at the stage that Rodgers is at in his career.

However, there are reasons to believe that Rodgers can still be a productive starter, even at 42 years old. First, he wasn’t awful last year. McFarland is correct that Rodgers struggled when pressured, but he still put together a decent season, throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions in 16 games.

Also, Rodgers could improve now that the Steelers are running Mike McCarthy’s offense. He played in that system from 2006-2018, winning two MVP awards. He’s not going to reach that level again, but he could be better than he was in 2025.

The Steelers have plenty of assets that they can use to upgrade their offense, too. The Steelers didn’t have much at wide receiver last year aside from DK Metcalf. Additionally, their young offensive line should continue to grow. It’s reasonable to assume that a better cast of characters around him would also benefit Rodgers.

Yes, Rodgers is near the end of his career, but he looked like he still had gas left in the tank last year. The Steelers don’t have many better options under center, either. Will Howard was a sixth-round pick and hasn’t played in the NFL yet. It’s hard to say that he would be an upgrade over Rodgers right now. The Steelers want to compete for a Super Bowl, and Rodgers may give them the best chance to do that.