{"id":674318,"date":"2026-01-13T15:46:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/674318\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T15:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:46:15","slug":"troy-aikman-thinks-this-is-the-end-for-aaron-rodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/674318\/","title":{"rendered":"Troy Aikman thinks this is the end for Aaron Rodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The end is here, according to ESPN\u2019s Troy Aikman.<\/p>\n

As the Steelers\u2019 season came to a collapsing halt<\/a>, the \u201cMonday Night Football\u201d broadcaster speculated that viewers just watched the end of Aaron Rodgers\u2019 time in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are watching Aaron Rodgers\u2019 last game,\u201d Aikman said as the Texans pulled away<\/a> from the Steelers in a 30-6 victory to advance to the divisional round. \u201cHe might be willing to come in at some point if a team needs a QB. I doubt that will happen. I don\u2019t imagine he\u2019s gonna say he wants to come back and sign with the Steelers again or with another team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PittsburghAaron Rodgers walks off the field after taking a beating from the Texans. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n

The Cowboys Hall of Famer added that he could see Rodgers return to the league in a part-time capacity, picking up midseason as a stopgap quarterback for a team that deals with injuries at the position, similar to what Philip Rivers, 44, did this past year with the Colts.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is an informed opinion or mere speculation from the ESPN broadcaster, who is now a\u00a0special advisor to the Dolphins<\/a> and helped them hire Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan as general manager<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rodgers refused to speculate on whether this was indeed the end, and he vowed in a postgame interview not to make any hasty commitments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to make any emotional decisions,\u201d Rodgers told reporters after he was punished by the Texans in the second half behind a failing Steelers offensive line. \u201cIt was such a fun year\u2026 a lot of adversity, but a lot of fun\u2026 It\u2019s disappointing to be sitting here with the season over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from the frustrating end to the season, Rodgers said on multiple occasions that he has had a blast during his lone season in Pittsburgh, which culminated with a game-winning touchdown pass to Calvin Austin to end the Ravens\u2019 regular season and eventually get John Harbaugh fired.<\/p>\n

Rodgers, 42, threw for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions as the Steelers went 10-7 in the regular season and won the AFC North.<\/p>\n

\"TroyTroy Aikman is now a special advisor to the Dolphins and a broadcaster. AP<\/p>\n

If this is the end for Rodgers, his final pass would be an interception returned for a touchdown by Texans safety Calen Bullock.<\/p>\n

Rodgers had never been one to make swift decisions regarding his future, going on darkness retreats and traveling to exotic places<\/a> to clear his mind.<\/p>\n

The Steelers will have plenty of decisions to make as well, including whether coach Mike Tomlin will return.<\/p>\n

The Steelers haven\u2019t won a playoff game since 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The end is here, according to ESPN\u2019s Troy Aikman. As the Steelers\u2019 season came to a collapsing halt,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2026],"tags":[1586,7,6,84,57,9,203,16154],"class_list":{"0":"post-674318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-nfl-playoffs","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-sports-media","15":"tag-troy-aikman"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115888573124681499","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}