There aren't a lot of instances of 41-year-old quarterbacks changing teams, but in terms of 40-year-old-plus future Hall of Fame quarterbacks changing teams, there is a recent track record of success.
Rodgers signed on Saturday and will wear No. 8.
In 2009, Brett Favre left the Jets after just one season and led the Vikings to a 12-4 record at age 40. He threw 33 touchdown passes and just seven interceptions.
In 2020, 43-year-old Tom Brady left New England for Tampa Bay. He threw 40 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions, leading the Bucs to an 11-5 record and a Super Bowl title.
Thing is, there have been fewer than 20 quarterbacks in NFL history to even start games after age 40. And most were not their team's primary starter.
Even fewer have been future Hall of Famers. Beyond Favre and Brady, who isn't in yet but will be, the only other 40-plus-year-old Hall of Famer with more than a handful of starts is Warren Moon (11-14 as a starter for Seattle and Kansas City).
Moon was a very good player. But Favre, Brady and Aaron Rodgers are all considered better.
Rodgers, who agreed to terms with the Steelers Thursday night, threw 28 touchdown passes and just 11 interceptions for the Jets. And the 11 interceptions were a lot for him. Always a quarterback who values the football – Rodgers has 503 touchdown passes against just 116 interceptions in his career – he's reached double digits in interceptions in a season just four times in his 20-year career.
And he'll value the football while producing touchdowns.
Ben Roethlisberger threw 33 touchdown passes in 2020, his first season back after undergoing elbow surgery in 2019.
Since that time, the Steelers have struggled to produce touchdown passes at anywhere near that level.
The Steelers also won't be asking Rodgers to be the Aaron Rodgers of five or 10 years ago. What they need from him is what Favre provided for the Vikings in 2009, when they came within a game of going to the Super Bowl, and what Brady gave to the Buccaneers.
In Brady's case, for example, he was replacing Jameis Winston, who had led the NFL with 30 interceptions the previous season.
Brady obviously gave Tampa Bay much more than that, but even if he had posted, say, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, they would have been a better football team.
They had a solid defense. They had playmakers on offense. They just couldn't live with their quarterback throwing the ball to the other team 30 times.
The Steelers also won't be asking Rodgers to be the focal point of their offense. The only teams that ran the ball more than the Steelers last season were the Ravens, Eagles and Lions.
And that part of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's offense isn't going away. The Steelers are still going to rely heavily on the run.
Rodgers' former team, the Jets, ran the ball 363 times, dead last in the NFL. New York asked Rodgers to carry the team.
The Steelers, meanwhile, will be asking him to make a handful of big-time throws per game, not dozens.
He is most certainly capable of doing that. After all, this is a player with one of the strongest and most accurate arms in NFL history.
The Steelers don't need him to put on the Superman cape. They don't need four-time MVP Rodgers. They have enough other stars that nobody needs to be great every game. They just need him to play a solid quarterback.
It's a team game, and the addition of Rodgers makes the Steelers a better team.
• The marriage of Rodgers and Smith might not be the stretch that some seem to think.
When Green Bay head coach Matt LeFleur was hired to follow Mike McCartney in 2019, he joined the Packers after two seasons as offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans.
His tight ends coach in both of his seasons with the Titans was Smith.
In fact, LaFleur thought so highly of Smith, he wanted to take him with him to Green Bay.
The Titans, however, had different plans. They elevated Smith to be LaFleur's replacement as offensive coordinator.
Rodgers spent four seasons playing for LaFleur in Green Bay.
So, while Rodgers and Smith haven't worked together directly, Rodgers isn't going to be starting at ground zero in Smith's offense.
• With the addition of Rodgers, the Steelers have now completely revamped their quarterback room for the second season in a row.
While that's not ideal, it also speaks to the change that many wanted to see after the team went 10-7 and lost in the opening round of the playoffs.
There were changes on the coaching staff. But, perhaps more importantly, there have been massive changes to the lineup.
Of the 22 starters who opened the year last season in Atlanta, 10 are no longer with the team. Of the 22 players who started the team's playoff loss to the Ravens, eight are no longer with the team.
That's not simply doing the same thing with the same people and expecting different results. That's real, tangible change.
• The Steelers have their three practices next week at the mandatory minicamp. After that the coaching staff won't lay eyes on the players again until they report to Saint Vincent College for training camp on July 23.
Now that Rodgers is under contract, he's obligated to attend minicamp. Unlike the OTA sessions, which are voluntary, these are mandatory workouts for all players under contract.
Also, over the years, the Steelers have added some key pieces in the post-minicamp days.
In 2019, cornerback Joe Haden was signed at the end of training camp following his release by Cleveland.
In 2021, David DeCastro surprisingly retired on June 24, soon after the Steelers had finished minicamp. That led to the team signing guard Trai Turner a few days later as a replacement.
And in 2023, the Steelers signed linebacker Kwon Alexander on July 30, just a couple of days after reporting to Saint Vincent College.
Things happen. Rosters continue to evolve.
This one will continue to do so, as well.
• It's incredibly difficult to get playoff wins.
To drive that point home, Rodgers is 11-10 in his career in the postseason. His 11 postseason wins are tied with Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach for ninth-most in NFL history.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com
The Steelers aren't bringing Rodgers in an attempt to extend their non-losing season streak to an NFL-record 22 years. They're bringing him in because they feel they, and he, can win playoff games.
This is a roster built to win now with a quarterback who badly wants to win now.
And his presence doesn't do anything in regard to the team's long-term plans at the position. The Steelers are still set up to acquire a long-term answer at the position in 2026 – if they determine there's a player who they like enough to be that guy.
The Steelers never want to "tank" on a season, nor should they. They want to build the best roster to compete that they can put on the field.
That is a commitment that fans should appreciate.
