Kurt Warner says Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady look 'exhausted'

This NFL season hasn't exactly gone the way Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady -- the two elder statesmen of the league -- have hoped. Clearly, both of their teams aren't living up to expectations. 

Brady's Buccaneers are 3-4 and are on a two-game losing streak. Their most recent loss was a 21-3 drubbing at the hands of the Carolina Panthers -- who just fired their head coach and traded their best player, Christian McCaffrey.

Rodgers' Packers are also 3-4 and they're riding a three-game losing skid. He's seen his team, once thought to be a Super Bowl contender, lose to the New York Giants, New York Jets and Washington Commanders. The Commanders, who beat the Packers 23-21, were playing with their second-string quarterback, Taylor Heinicke. 

No, it hasn't been a great season for either team, and it hasn't been a great season for either quarterback.

In fact, both players are starting to show their age a little bit. According to former NFL quarterback and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, both players are also starting to look a bit tired.

"I think both of those guys look like they're exhausted," Warner recently told People. "It's OK to go, 'You know what? It's not how it used to be. I may not be who I used to be, or, it's just too hard overall to get everybody up to the standard. Maybe it is time to walk away.' "

It's worth noting that Brady did walk away this past offseason, but he didn't last in retirement for more than a month. He's now playing at 45 years old, but he doesn't seem to have that GOAT energy that he used to.

Rodgers, 38, has also thought long and hard about retirement, but he came back to Green Bay to make another run at a Super Bowl. He did win Super Bowl XLV back in 2011, but that win was well over 10 years ago now.

Coming off two-straight league MVPs, Rodgers hasn't had his typical accuracy and lethal downfield passing ability that has made him a future Hall of Famer. He also looks extremely frustrated with his teammates, to the point of recently calling them out for making mental mistakes.

"It's not being defeated," Warner explained regarding his advice for the two quarterbacks to walk away from the game. "That's not saying you can't do it anymore. I just think sometimes that stuff outweighs the joy of the game, which is what it looks like is happening for those two guys and I feel for them."

Reflecting back on his own 12-season NFL career, Warner said that he can see himself  (at the end) in Brady, specifically.

"As I was going through the last couple years, it was becoming more and more prevalent that, 'Okay, this is taking too much from me and it's not just about enjoying the game anymore,'" Warner says, adding, "I mean, I kinda look at Tom Brady now, and that's how I feel.'"

It will be interesting to see if Brady or Rodgers, or both, can turn this season around. They certainly have a long track record of being able to do so, but perhaps that long track record is the problem right now.