What Should The Expectations Of Aaron Rodgers Be For 2025?

Aaron Rodgers is officially a Pittsburgh Steeler, and for once in his storied career, the pressure isn’t on him to carry the franchise. The four-time NFL MVP signed a one-year deal with the Steelers, and while the move made headlines, the expectations should be more realistic.

Rodgers isn’t here to save the day. He’s just here to play solid football, and for the Steelers, that might be exactly what they need.

Let’s be real. In Green Bay, Rodgers was the show. In New York, he was supposed to fix the show. Now, in Pittsburgh, while he’ll still be box office, he doesn’t need to carry the team. He doesn’t need to throw 45 times a game. He doesn’t even need to be MVP-level. He just needs to do his job, something he can still do at a high level.

Rodgers went from being the face of the Packers for nearly two decades of success to landing in the chaos of the New York Jets. The Jets fired their head coach and general manager in the middle of the season and they gave Rodgers too much control. On the field they couldn’t run the ball (second to last in the league), the protection was shaky, and everything seemed out of sync. They were a bad football team overall from top to bottom. Now, he gets a fresh start in Pittsburgh with a much better setup.

The Steelers have a future Hall of Fame head coach who is the face of the franchise, future Hall of Famers on defense, and an offense that looks to continue improving, starting with the rushing attack. They finished 12th in rushing last year and have a solid one-two combo with Jaylen Warren and the promising rookie Kaleb Johnson. For Rodgers, that’s a big upgrade, not having the ability to lean on the running game made things difficult for Rodgers and the Jets offense. He’ll also have weapons who were underutilized, such as Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, along a new big-time WR1 in DK Metcalf.

Rodgers also gets a defense he can trust. The Steelers ranked 7th in scoring defense, 11th against the run, and tied for 2nd in takeaways. Translation? They make stops, force turnovers, and give the offense a chance to breathe.

Rodgers can help the defense, too, by keeping the offense on schedule and giving them a chance to breathe. Too often over the past few seasons, the Steelers’ offense couldn’t stay on the field, putting the defense back out there again and again. That wears a unit down, and it usually shows late in the season. And if you put even bad offenses on the field enough times, they’ll find a way to score.

The Jets, on the other hand, were middle of the pack or worse in those same areas. Again, a bad football team. Even if you don’t agree with how the Steelers have operated, there is no debate they are a better football team than the NY Jets. Rodgers won’t be asked to do as much as he can manage the game at a high level, make smart throws, and let them as a whole put together winning performances.

While he may not be asked to be larger than life, his ego may be. But that might be exactly what works right now. He won’t want the Jets debacle to be the final chapter of his career. He also has a chance to bring the Steelers their first playoff win and possible playoff run in almost a decade. For a personality like Aaron Rodgers, nothing would mean more to him than a city celebrating him for ending that long playoff drought.

He saw Brett Favre go from Green Bay to New York, then bounce back in Minnesota taking then to the NFC Championship Game. Now Rodgers has a chance to do something similar, only with a franchise known for consistency, toughness, and a winning culture.

This isn’t 2011 Rodgers who needs to throw for 4,500 yards. It’s not 2023 Rodgers trying to fix a broken Jets team. This is 2025 Rodgers, still armed with elite football IQ, high level arm talent, experience, and just enough left in the tank to guide a good team.

Let the defense work. Let the run game cook. Let Rodgers do what he does best, stay cool, be smart, and make big throws when it matters. The Steelers don’t need a superhero. They just need someone steady. And Aaron Rodgers might be exactly that.

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