Oct 20, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi (99) sacks New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) during the first quarter at Acrisure Stadium.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will officially have a player who has yet to take a meaningful snap in the NFL to thank if Aaron Rodgers decides to head to Pittsburgh.

That’s because the Minnesota Vikings are out on signing Rodgers and will be going all in on their 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy.

That leaves two obvious landing spots for Rodgers, and ESPN believes the choice is rather easy…

Rodgers should choose Steelers over Giants

If Rodgers wants to end his career on a competitive team and prove he wasn’t the problem in New York, the Steelers are the better option. They’ve posted the league’s second-best winning percentage over the past four years when scoring at least 20 points (.839). The problem is they’ve managed to do that just 31 times, a feat only the Titans, Panthers and Giants have failed to accomplish more often.

– Bill Barnwell, ESPN

The move seems obvious for Rodgers, as a team that just went to the playoffs is surely the best option to win when the remaining competition is more likely to be drafting in the top five with a brand new regime than they are to make the playoffs (sorry New York Giants).

And sure the ease of not having to move and the ability to stick it to the New York Jets as a member of their cross-town rivals has to be enticing for Aaron Rodgers. But the true competition for the Steelers isn’t the New York Giants, it’s Malibu Beach.

Rodgers has been flirting with retirement for some time now with many believing that fawning over a QB who has one foot in and one foot out is a losing proposition for the Steelers.

But the Steelers are backed into a corner, and it’s by their own doing. If you think the team is actually confident about heading into the season with Mason Rudolph, a rookie, and Skylar Thompson as their three quarterbacks…

I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

So the choice (as it has been for weeks) is up to Rodgers. The two teams left are clear, and the question is whether or not he still thinks he wants to play.

It seems very un-Rodgers-like to go out after those two years in New York however, setting up the Steel City to be his final destination.