Cris Carter Takes Shot at Aaron Rodgers
During the last season, franchise legend Cris Carter made some headlines in Vikings news when he was asked about J.J. McCarthy, seemingly commenting weekly about the struggles in his first starts. One can debate whether he should’ve been that harsh, but he surely was right with the things he said.
This time, not a Vikings quarterback is the target of his feisty rhetoric, but a long-time rival. Mr. Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota’s former nemesis for over a decade, was on the receiving end of Carter’s latest comments on the Fully Loaded podcast.
He is not a fan of Rodgers dragging his decisions out deep into the offseason.
“You know he wants to play, but he just didn’t want to make up his mind,” Carter opined. “You need some time away from the game. It’s been a couple months from the Super Bowl. Now’s that time, before the draft, the minicamps. They’re an average team in the league. Aaron Rodgers is like a lot of these quarterbacks when they get to this stage.”
Former Vikings quarterback and Rodgers’ ex-teammate Brett Favre is another player who belongs in the category of players that couldn’t make up their minds. Rodgers has been testing the nerves of NFL fans for years. Ever since the Packers drafted Jordan Love in 2020, Rodgers has been in the spotlight during the offseason, waiting to make decisions about his playing future, arguably beyond a reasonable time.
“They’re so … so selfish. They never want to be called that, but they’re so selfish, and they’re so self-centered. Aaron Rodgers wants to play. He’s got one place that he can play. That’s in Pittsburgh, the place he played in last year, that happens to have his ex-coach.”
Indeed, the starting spots in the NFL are scarce. Atlanta has turned to Tua Tagovailoa, Las Vegas has signed Kirk Cousins and will draft Fernando Mendoza, Arizona will move forward with Jacoby Brissett, the New York Jets have acquired Geno Smith, Cleveland appears to be ready to hand the keys to Shedeur Sanders this year, and the Minnesota Vikings signed Kyler Murray to compete with McCarthy.
That leaves Rodgers’ old team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. After Mike Tomlin’s exit this offseason, Mike McCarthy was hired. Of course, he and Rodgers spent a decade together in Green Bay.
Last year, Rodgers was in the same situation he is in now. He waited all offseason and ultimately signed with the Steelers in June.
In 2025, Rodgers completed 65.7% of his passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He led the Steelers to a 10-6 record in his 16 starts before experiencing a miserable playoff game against the Houston Texans, with numbers of 17/33 for 146 yards, no touchdowns and one pick. The Steelers couldn’t move the ball all game.
He is 42 years old and long gone are the days in which his presence automatically moved his franchise into the tier of title contenders, regardless of the state of the roster. Rodgers can still take care of the football, but his arm has declined in recent years and the once-dangerous ability to extend plays has vanished.
A decision about his future could arrive sooner than later. Steelers owner Art Rooney II said last week, “I have not talked to (Rodgers). Coach (Mike McCarthy) has been in contact with him pretty regularly. I think a decision is coming soon. I would say by the draft I would expect an answer.”
Mike Silver of The Athletic said about Rodgers’ future this week: “I think time has kind of made them feel like ‘hey, that was a pretty good thing. We’ve been through a lot.’ And so Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers have been talking about this. I think the Steelers organizationally are reasonably upbeat about the possibility of Aaron coming back and playing another season.”
Without any satisfying option on the roster, the Steelers have to wait for Rodgers’ decision. They could be one of the teams interested in Alabama’s Ty Simpson in the upcoming draft, who is regarded as the QB2 in this year’s class.
Looks like Rodgers will continue to be in the news.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.