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Colin Cowherd Advises Aaron Rodgers to Go on Another Darkness Retreat

The quest to find a new team continues.

Kyle Koster

New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) throws the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at Highmark Stadium.
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) throws the ball against the Buffalo Bills during the first half at Highmark Stadium. / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
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Aaron Rodgers spent a nice day with the Pittsburgh Steelers last week but did not put pen to paper on anything to signal his intentions for next year. The future Pro Football Hall of Famer has been operating largely in silence with precious little information about his next move trickling out. And his quest to find a new team long ago moved past the point where some media members took offense, for some reason, that the process is taking so long.

But Colin Cowherd has surveyed the state of play and surmises that it may be beneficial for Rodgers to just wait this whole thing out.

"I think Aaron Rodgers is sitting around for a couple weeks and I think he's right," the Fox Sports host said. "Waiting on the Niners' Brock Purdy. I don't think the Niners are going to pay Brock Purdy $59 million per year and that, according to his agent, is what he wants. I can't believe I'm saying this but Aaron needs to go on another darkness retreat. Aaron needs to hide. Avoid commitment. Plan an excursion. Call your travel agent if people use this anymore."

Vacation ideas aside, this seems correct. There's precious little in the last several years to suggest a Mike Tomlin-led offense is going to suddenly break out. A Kyle Shanahan-led one, though, is just waiting for someone competent to break it out. Waiting comes with the gamble of being left out of the quarterback musical chairs for Rodgers but even that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

If we've learned anything it's that teams are going to need quarterbacks. Before the season. During the season. And even for the playoffs. Rodgers is 41 and is chasing a championship. If he can maximize his time and effort while landing in the best culture and framework, then he'll emerge from all the drama having made a great decision.

Not only shouldn't Rodgers care how long the process takes, he should know that the process taking longer could—and at this point likely will—lead to the best opportunity.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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