Memo to the Arizona Cardinals: If you’re seriously considering adding quarterback Aaron Rodgers, don’t. It’s not worth it.
Rodgers — who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season — remains a free agent. The Steelers placed the seldom-used unrestricted free-agent tender on Rodgers on April 28. Pittsburgh will receive a compensatory draft pick if the four-time league MVP signs with another team before July 22 or the beginning of their training camp.
The Cardinals may be one of the few teams that would be willing to give up that pick for Rodgers. Arizona wide receiver Kendrick Bourne offered a recruiting pitch to the 42-year-old QB on X.
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur, meanwhile, didn’t clarify if they will.
“Honestly, Jim, right now we’re focused on the guys we got coming in,” the coach told Westwood One’s Jim Rome on Tuesday. “We got a room that we’re excited to work with, and that’s solely where my focus is.”
That’s clearly coach-speak. A QB room that includes journeyman Jacoby Brissett and rookie Carson Beck inspires little excitement. Rodgers, however, isn’t the guy who will lead Arizona to its first playoff appearance since 2021.
Why Aaron Rodgers wouldn’t be a savior for Cardinals
Rodgers went 10-6 in 16 starts for the Steelers last season, tossing 24 touchdown passes and seven interceptions. In the playoffs, though, he wilted. During a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans in the AFC wild-card round, he completed 17-of-33 passes for zero touchdowns, and 146 yards, and he threw one pick.
Since leaving the Green Bay Packers following the 2022 season, Rodgers has looked like a shell of a player who was once considered the best QB in the league. During this span, he has ranked 19th in passer rating (92.4), 22nd in completion percentage (64.2 percent) and 19th in passing yards per game (212.3), per StatMuse. The decline may be tied to a left Achilles tear suffered in Week 1 of the 2023 season.
One of his worst seasons came with the New York Jets in 2024, in which he posted the lowest passer rating (90.5) as a starting QB of his career. Nathaniel Hackett served as the offensive coordinator for the Jets that season. He’s now the OC in Arizona. So, why would the Cardinals want to reunite the two after that calamitous season?
Arizona feels it needs a franchise QB after missing out on Ty Simpson (now with the Los Angeles Rams) during the 2026 NFL Draft. It should look to the 2027 class instead of Rodgers.
Tankathon has the Cardinals taking Oregon Ducks QB Dante Moore (6-foot-3, 206 pounds) with pick No. 2 in its latest mock draft. He tossed 30 TD passes last season, piloting his team to the College Football Playoff.
QB is the Cardinals’ biggest hole heading into the 2026 season. Signing Rodgers still won’t plug it.
A team that’s rebuilding, like Arizona, shouldn’t sign Rodgers as a one-year rental. He may not even be the right guy for the team if it were a Super Bowl contender.
