Where Aaron Rodgers plays in 2025 remains a mystery. What we do know is that the future Hall of Famer doesn’t want his dumpster-fire stint with the New York Jets to be the final chapter of his Hall of Fame career.
Some favorites have emerged, including the possibility of remaining in the Big Apple with the New York Giants. Another team in need of a bridge quarterback for 2025 is the Minnesota Vikings, and Garrett Podell of CBS Sports believes they could be a very real landing spot for Rodgers.
Here was Podell’s take on Rodgers potentially following Brett Favre’s path from the Packers, to the Jets and finally the Vikings to close out his career:
If the Vikings really want to play it safe with McCarthy’s long-term future, they could sign Rodgers to a one-year deal and wait to give the keys to McCarthy until 2026. Adding Rodgers could be the perfect one-year stopgap for Minnesota. Having played in Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s offense, who is a descendent of the Shanahan-McVay tree, Rodgers would already walk in the building with a high familiarity with O’Connell’s playbook. Both LaFleur and O’Connell were Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinators under McVay. Rodgers could elevate that attack from what it was with Darnold simply by reducing the turnovers. Darnold’s 12 interceptions last season were tied for the fourth-most in the league last season. Rodgers has the best touchdown-to-interception ratio (503 touchdowns passing touchdowns to 116 interceptions) in NFL history, and he won back-to-back NFL MVPs running LaFleur’s offense in 2020 and 2021.
Adding Rodgers to a Vikings offense that currently features Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and old friend Aaron Jones is certainly fun on paper. But is Minnesota a realistic landing spot? Probably not.
The Vikings could be moving on from 2024 starter Sam Darnold this offseason due to his projected market value. They’re not looking to pay through the nose for a veteran quarterback, when the 22-year-old J.J. McCarthy should be ready to start at some point in 2025. By that same logic, pivoting to the 41-year-old Rodgers — who’s never been a cheap option throughout his NFL career — would be a questionable move, at best.
Rodgers also reportedly wants his next team to add Davante Adams, who’s currently still under contract with the Jets. The Vikings just gave Jefferson a massive extension and won’t be looking to take targets away from Addison this offseason.
Sources: The #Jets are now taking calls on star WR Davante Adams, open to trading him prior to the start of the league year. No surprise with his $38.2M cap number.
If they can’t get a deal, they are expected to release Adams, who could rejoin QB Aaron Rodgers with a new team. pic.twitter.com/EjvMh2zF1J
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 2, 2025
Adding Rodgers would almost certainly bring a circus to the Twin Cities. If things go well on offense in 2025, what would stop Rodgers from wanting to continue playing into his mid-40s? Similar to Favre, there’s no way to predict when Rodgers plans to retire, so adding him this year could come with future headaches for the Vikings, especially for their young quarterback who’s waiting for his turn.
It’s easy to understand why Minnesota has been included in the discussion for players like Rodgers and Matthew Stafford this offseason. In reality, though, if it not Darnold again, it will most likely be McCarthy and Daniel Jones leading the Vikings’ quarterback room in 2025.
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