Sometimes things present themselves in sports that you just need to happen, even when you don’t have any skin in the game. Circumstances so hilarious, so brilliant, that you want to will them into existence. Now that Aaron Rodgers’ time in New York is officially done there’s only one place he needs to finish out his career.
Aaron Rodgers needs to become the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.
This would allow him to reach his final form, the career he was building towards all this time, the perfectly 2025 incarnation of Brett Favre. The best part is that this isn’t some pie-in-the-sky notion that makes zero sense — it could actually work. Hilariously the Vikings have become precisely the “right place, right time” team for Rodgers to make one last run, and Minnesota could actually be in a spot where Rodgers is better than the alternative.
The path forward at quarterback for the Vikings is murky. Sam Darnold had a Pro Bowl season worthy of a big-time extension, but Minnesota don’t appear eager to be the team to pony up big money. Meanwhile J.J. McCarthy, who the team drafted to be their QB of the future, still needs more rehab time to recover from injury.
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It leaves the Vikings with a few of options: Try to sign Darnold to a short-term deal, franchise tag him, or find a short-term caretaker quarterback.
Why not this guy?
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Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images
History has a funny way of repeating itself. In 2008 the Vikings found themselves in an oddly similar situation. The team went 10-6, eliminated in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, but with a roster strong enough to make noise. Tavaris Jackson showed incredible flashes to close out the season, but the team was concerned that he couldn’t replicate his performance in 2009.
It was at precisely this time that the Jets cut a 40-year-old Brett Favre after their attempt to win it all with No. 4 didn’t work. Favre went to the Vikings, turned the team around, and they were four points away from making it to the Super Bowl — the closest they’d been in years.
Now Minnesota are unsure about whether Darnold can be the guy, and a 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers has been cut by the Jets. The question is whether Rodgers is a fundamentally better option than Sam Darnold if you think the Vikings can actually compete for a Super Bowl — and the answer is yes.
Say what you will about Rodgers personally, but truly during his time with the Jets he didn’t show that the drop off was so pronounced that he can’t still win. The Jets didn’t have incredible weapons, and their run game faltered in 2024, but Rodgers still managed to throw for 3,897 yards, 28 TDs and 11 INTs.
If you put Rodgers with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson in a Kevin O’Connell offense there is a very real chance he would perform better than Darnold. Moreover he wouldn’t require an expensive franchise tag, freeing up more free agency money for the Vikings to make a splash — and they already have a war chest.
There’s really nothing to lose here for the Vikings. If they plug in Rodgers for a year and it fails, no harm no foul. Do you really think they’d be able to go further towards a championship with Darnold at the helm? Let Sam go and get the bag from another QB-needy team on a long-term deal, see if you can’t go further with Rodgers. Even if it blows up it’s better to get a high draft pick than be locked in the playoffs mediocrity of early 20s draft picks.
You know Rodgers would love to play against the Packers twice a year. This is a man who relishes being a villain at this point in his career, much as Brett Favre did.
It’s time to complete the metamorphosis. Follow the exact same path. Move from supplanting Favre, to waffling about your future, heading to New York, then return wearing purple for one last revenge tour.