Nick Wright slams Aaron Rodgers’ return to Steelers with a Tom Brady reality check

Nick Wright doubts Aaron Rodgers can follow Tom Brady’s path with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Speaking on First Things First, Wright questioned how Rodgers will hold up deep into another season in Pittsburgh.

“He’s going to be 43 during this season… Brady is the exception. Brady played to 46 and then flirted with coming back at 48,” Wright said.

He added, “… I am very pessimistic about how he’s going to look at the end of this season. I am taking this at face value, which can be dangerous with Aaron.”

Wright’s argument is not that Rodgers has no talent left. It is expecting any quarterback to defy age like Brady did is a dangerous way to build belief. Rodgers is entering what he has called his final NFL season, and the Steelers are asking him to survive another year of hits, travel, and late-season pressure.

Brady turned his 40s into two Super Bowl titles and 10 playoff wins. That is not the normal aging curve; it is the outlier that makes everyone else look short of the mark.

Nick Wright says Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers are far from Tom Brady’s last glory run

Wright also pointed to Rodgers’ recent playoff drought as the bigger issue, stating, “The Steelers are not going to be dominant this season. His last playoff win was against Jared Goff on the Rams. His last playoff touchdown was in a game against Tom Brady.”

“Tom Brady’s first year with the Bucs. So we’re talking about being almost six years removed from any type of end-of-year glory,’ Wright concluded.

The timeline backs up the concern. Rodgers’ last playoff win came in January 2021, when the Green Bay Packers beat the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round.

His last postseason touchdown came the next week against Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game. Since then, his late-career playoff resume has gone quiet.

The Steelers may get competent quarterback play from Rodgers, especially with Mike McCarthy now in Pittsburgh. Wright’s point is that competence is not the same as a Super Bowl threat.

If Rodgers wants a Brady comparison, he needs something Brady kept producing late: January wins. Until then, Wright’s skepticism is difficult to dismiss.