Aaron Rodgers Faces Undetermined NFL Future

The four-time MVP will be 41 at season’s end. Plus, job statuses for Brian Daboll, Joe Schoen, Andrew Berry and more in Albert Breer’s mailbag.

Rodgers's hope for two healthy seasons with the Jets hasn't materialized. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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From Richard Hulme (@RJHulme13): Is this the end for Aaron Rodgers? Rumors of injuries and playing just O.K. Which team would want to take on his demands around team building without a clear upside?

Richard, I don’t know. He told me in August it was always his plan to play two healthy seasons with the New York Jets, and that he wanted to see that through. I asked whether winning the whole thing would change that, given the chance for that kind of Hollywood ending. He said he wasn’t sure. What I didn’t ask was, well, the reverse of that, which is where we are now.

I do know Rodgers certainly didn’t want to go out with the last image of his career being him riding off the MetLife Stadium carpet in a cart after tearing his Achilles four plays into the 2023 NFL season. You could argue that would be better than what he faces now.

So, on one hand, sure, he might decide at 41 (his age at the end of this season) that he’s had enough, and doesn’t want to go through everything that goes into playing an NFL season again. On the other, he could chase a better capstone for his illustrious career in 2025.

The next question then would be whether the Jets would want him back. That one, to me, is unanswerable right now. We don’t know who the coach is going to be. We don’t know who the GM will be. We don’t know whether those folks will want to go all-in with the core they have for another year (which would make bringing Rodgers back more attractive), or start over and retool the roster (in which case a Rodgers return makes a lot less sense).

As you can tell, there’s still a lot to be sorted out here.

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From Local Hero (@HofSpillane): Is Justin Herbert overrated? Sounds like Troy Aikman thought so last night.

Local Hero, I really don’t think so. I think Justin Herbert is just outside the top tier right now (Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow), and has played to that level all year. Remember, he’s learning a new run-heavy offense, and lost Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler as skill-position talent in the passing game. Joshua Palmer’s a good player, Ladd McConkey’s flashed great potential, and I wouldn’t give up on Quentin Johnston … but this isn’t the best group that Herbert’s played with in his five years with the Los Angeles Chargers.

His numbers aren’t worse, but they are different. His passer rating, sitting at 99.0, projects to a career best this year. He’s also thrown just one pick through 11 games, which is pretty remarkable. On the flip side, his yards-per-game average is 218.55, more than 20 yards below his career low, and way under the numbers from his first three seasons. It’s because he’s throwing a lot less—his yards per attempt is actually at a career-high 7.7—and it illustrates the genius in how Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman deploy quarterbacks.

They’re getting more from him by asking less of him.

The Chargers are running the ball. They’re playing defense. They’re avoiding deficits and long yardage, which adds up to asking your quarterback to be Superman on fewer occasions, and gives him a better chance to be just that when you need him to be.

So, no, Herbert’s not overrated. He might not be the best of all-time, which is how Harbaugh talks about him publicly. But he is really, really, really good.

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From Bernie Bahrmasel (@BernieBahrmasel): Cooper Rush at least on Sunday looked like one of the very best QB2’s in the league. What do you think happens in Dallas with him and Lance in the offseason? Thanks!

Bernie, we can start with Trey Lance. His contract is up. I can’t imagine he’d be back with any sort of security. So if he does return, I’d guess it’s in a spot where he’s fighting to make the roster.

That puts him in a totally different category than Rush, who is in the last year of the $5 million deal he signed in 2023. Outside of a quick offseason stint with the Giants in 2020, the 31-year-old has spent all eight of his NFL seasons in Dallas. He has great background in what the Cowboys do, and the different dynamics that face the franchise and its players. He has a rapport with Dak Prescott. So there’d be good value in bringing him back.

That said, like with the Jets, we don’t know who the coach will be in 2025, and sometimes coaches, especially offensive coaches, like to use the quarterback room as a place where you get people with background in the system on the roster, and in position to help. So if it’s not Rush, it could be someone a new coach had previously with another team.

Also, I wouldn’t be opposed to the Cowboys drafting a quarterback in 2025 to put in the pipeline and develop. Prescott’s under contract through ’28, but he also turns 32 next year, and has plenty of injury history—which would validate taking a Ron Wolf–type of approach, and creating a sort of quarterbacking farm system behind No. 4.

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Mara likely wouldn't want to turn over his leadership again, which would mean firing Schoen and Daboll. / Kevin R. Wexler / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

From Jimmy T (@jimmy_tomredle): Are Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen’s seats hot?

Jimmy, right now, I wouldn’t look at it that way.

Owner John Mara, as I see it, isn’t keen on the idea of turning his leadership over again. In 2016, he elevated Ben McAdoo and paired him with Jerry Reese. In ’18, he fired both, and brought aboard Dave Gettleman and Pat Shurmur. In ’20, he fired Shurmur and matched Joe Judge with Gettleman. In ’22, he fired both and brought in Schoen and Daboll.

That’s a lot of turnover for any team. But for the New York Giants? Well, the five GMs that preceded Gettleman in New York served in the role for 27, five, 19, nine and 11 seasons. And it took a .292 winning percentage to fire the guy who lasted only five years—Andy Robustelli—and that winning percentage, by the way, was also Gettleman’s before he was fired after four years in charge. Also, from 1931 up until Tom Coughlin’s dismissal in 2016, only two coaches (John McVay and Ray Handley) didn’t make it to a third season with the Giants.

Simply put, the nine-season stretch from 2016 to this year is a low point for the franchise in a lot of different ways. And, really, you can extend that back over Coughlin’s last three years, making this a really tough 12-year stretch.

I think Mara knows at some point, as sideways as things have gotten, he’s going to have to stick to a plan and a rebuild. At this point, all the instability has become a part of the problem, with all these players brought in for different reasons and by different regimes. I also think he likes Daboll and Schoen, and sees promise in the young talent on the roster, and wants to stay the course.

From here until mid-January, then, it’s on Daboll and Schoen not to give him reason to veer from that opinion, which will mean keeping the players on board, the games competitive, and the future compelling enough.

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From Gordon (@Gordo_CLE): For the Browns, is there any way Andrew Berry retains his job next year? And is there any chance the team avoids a full tear down, or is the Deshaun Watson contract so prohibitive that there is no other way and we’re planning for 2026 to ’27?

Yes, Gordon, in fact, the plan is to stick with Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski, who were just extended into 2025. The Haslams have sought the right model since buying the team in ’12. They feel like they’ve found it. I agree with their stance internally, that one season of horrific circumstances shouldn’t incite panic and total upheaval.

As for Deshaun Watson, I get the feeling everyone has culpability for the acquisition and result they’ve gotten. They’ve tried to pull enough levers now to know it’s not just surroundings doing Watson in—that maybe, just maybe, the trade wasn’t a good one. And as such, the Cleveland Browns are planning to put competition in the quarterback room next year, which is a different tact than they’ve taken the past three offseasons, when building out that room was more about building Watson up.

Who’ll be added to create competition? The Browns are going to look far and wide, in the draft and on the veteran market, for that answer.

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From Steve (@srs17): If the Pats make any change this offseason (coordinator, HC, and/or GM), are these viewed as desirable jobs by the league? What’s the likelihood they could attract top candidate?

Steve, I don’t think we see those jobs turn over—but, yes, I do think the Patriot GM, head coach and offensive coordinator jobs are becoming increasingly attractive because of Drake Maye.

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From erickleinphd (@DrEricKlein): Albert, there has been a lot of speculation about former Jets head coaches returning to coach the team again in 2025. Between Rex Ryan, Eric Mangini and Pete Carroll, which of those candidates do you think would make the most sense to return?

Erick, I don’t think turning the clock back makes sense, and I really like all those guys.

The Jets need someone to come in without any preconceived notions, with knowledge of what he is up against, but with an assuredness not to become a prisoner to it. That’s why I look at guys on the outside (GM candidates such as Mike Borgonzi, Will McClay and John Spytek; and coach candidates such as Mike Vrabel and Brian Flores) as attractive. I also like the idea of bringing back someone who served, and won, in the organization way back (Brian Gaine or Aaron Glenn), but won’t be weighed down by his own history.

The good news? I think this will be a broad, thorough search, and I do think Mike Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman are going to be very open-minded.

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Challenges are coming for the Bengals, who have paid Burrow, and will have to extend Chase before next season. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

From Austin Elmore (@autyelmore): What’s the Bengals internal attitude with how this season has gone and what do they plan to do to prevent it from happening again? Can’t waste healthy Burrow years...

Austin, I think your question is critical for the Cincinnati Bengals. I’ve heard some frustrations in that place over the size of the personnel staff, and the resources they’re given to try and consistently build a champion. Now that Joe Burrow is off his rookie deal, Tee Higgins is headed for free agency, and the defense has aged, Cincinnati has some work to do in resetting the roster. And with a tighter cap squeeze ahead, with Burrow paid, Ja’Marr Chase getting his, and investment made along the lines of scrimmage, challenges are coming.

Can Cincinnati rebuild its defense? Can it put a strong supporting cast around Burrow and Chase at the skill positions? Doing that will mean investing in the veteran market, and being able to dig out talent deep into the draft. I’d hope, given the opportunity Burrow brings them, ownership gives the front office and coaches the best shot to do that.

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