There are plenty of people who think Aaron Rodgers has reached the end of the road.
Bill Belichick is not one of them.
Rodgers, in his second season with the New York Jets, has looked like a 41-year-old quarterback a year removed from an Achilles injury. But Belichick said Monday he would not be surprised to see Rodgers rebound next year.
Given that Belichick is actively shopping for his next head coaching gig, and Rodgers might be open to leaving the Jets, the legendary coach’s comments sparked even more speculation the two might end up together in 2025.
On his Let’s Go! podcast, Belichick told co-host Jim Gray that Rodgers’ struggles this year don’t necessarily mean he’s reached the “end of the road.”
“[Rodgers] could easily rebound from that and be ready to play and have a good year next year,” Belichick said. “You look at all the quarterbacks in the league that are kind of on their second teams and they’re doing pretty well, Russell Wilson and Geno Smith and [Sam] Darnold, Baker Mayfield, you go right down the line, [Matthew] Stafford for that matter, Jared Goff.
“These guys that switch teams, they get in a different system, things are a little bit different for them, maybe they learn some things from whatever it was their previous experiences were. It changes. When a guy has a long career and a good career, sometimes one season is just a bump in the road. It’s not necessarily the end of the road.”
But will Rodgers’ road continue next season with Belichick as his coach? There’s been intense media speculation and drama surrounding the quarterback’s plans for next season. Some NFL insiders have latched onto the prospect of a Belichick-Rodgers partnership. NBC Sports’ Mike Florio even parsed Rodgers’ recent comment that he’s enjoyed his time in New York as a clue that Rodgers and Belichick might be headed to the New York Giants next season.
Whether Belichick and Rodgers end up together or not, it’s clear the former New England Patriots coach is much higher on Rodgers than many people at the moment. He points out that many players have an off-year after returning from a serious injury, as Rodgers suffered in his first game with the Jets in 2024.
“That’s one of the toughest things to do as a coach in professional football, is to figure out when that right time is or isn’t,” Belichick said. “One thing you run into sometimes with players as they age in their career is the injury factor. And sometimes players can have an injury at the later point in their career and make it look like maybe it’s an age problem when actually it was an injury problem. And then once that injury clears up, then there’s a lot more good football left in that player.”
