Pittsburgh Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers will turn 43 years old in December. He’s carrying a lot of pressure on those shoulders. How often does an NFL quarterback start meaningful games in his 40s? Yet that’s exactly what Pittsburgh is counting on him to do.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game in a decade. They believe that Rodgers can still help them do that. Yet Rodgers’ age is the big reason why a lot of people are out on the Steelers.
You can count former NFL WR Keyshawn Johnson among that crowd.
“Aaron Rodgers is a thousand years old, man,” Johnson said Friday on the Schultz Report. “You can only get so much juice out of a dry lemon. And Aaron Rodgers is a dry lemon at this stage of his career… On the field, he ain’t Aaron Rodgers of four-time MVP. He’s just not. Father Time catches up to you, and that’s okay.
“He can still play football, but he’s not at the level [of] what we remember in Green Bay. So, we can’t force it to be what it’s not.”
I asked @keyshawn about the Steelers, and he’s OUT, even calling Aaron Rodgers a “dry lemon.” 🍋
I still think the 4x NFL MVP has some magic left.
Who’s right? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/7KHbWEfRWp
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 4, 2026
Are the Steelers trying to squeeze juice out of a dry husk of a quarterback? No. Is Aaron Rodgers the same guy he was when he won four MVPs with the Green Bay Packers? Also no. There is middle ground to be found here, at least for now.
Johnson makes a salient point that Father Time comes for all football players. We’ve seen it all throughout NFL history. It even eventually came for Tom Brady.
So it’s entirely possible that at some point this season, Aaron Rodgers dries up like an old lemon left out in the sun at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. But by all accounts, that time is not right now.
Rodgers can still spin the ball. His arm talent is still there. Plus, he does a lot of his work pre-snap with the mental game. That is still there, too. Yes, he’s absolutely lost a step (or two, or three…) compared to the days when he ran all over Lambeau Field, extending plays. So, by that standard, Johnson is correct. He’s not that guy anymore.
I also don’t think the Steelers believe he’s that kind of player anymore. They aren’t asking him to be that. That’s why they went out and bolstered the wide receiver corps by trading for WR Michael Pittman Jr. and drafting WR Germie Bernard. They also signed RB Rico Dowdle in free agency.
The Steelers even overhauled their organizational identity by hiring an offensive-minded head coach in Mike McCarthy (Rodgers’ old head coach in Green Bay). These additions are to help Rodgers, not force him to do it all alone.
The Steelers aren’t trying to get every last drop out of an in-his-prime, four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers. They’re mixing him into the drink that they believe will lead to playoff success this year.
