Does Brady’s Retirement Ensure Another Year for Rodgers?

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady, who announced his retirement on Wednesday, will be the headliner of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2028.

Author:
Bill Huber
Updated:
Feb 1, 2023 11:37 AM EST
Original:
Feb 1, 2023

In this story:

Green Bay Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are two of the NFL’s living-legend quarterbacks. With Brady announcing his retirement on Wednesday – “for good” this time – Rodgers stands alone.

Sure, Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes could unseat them both, and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow and the Bills’ Josh Allen seem destined for long-term greatness, as well, but, as of now, the longtime face of the Green Bay Packers is the NFL’s gold standard for career dominance.

Unless he retires, too. That internal debate, as he said on Tuesday’s edition of The Pat McAfee Show, is a “real thing.”

But will he?

The moment a player retires, the five-year clock starts ticking toward enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brady will be the king of the Canton castle when the Hall of Fame honors the Class of 2028. As he should be. By Super Bowl rings and touchdown passes, he is the greatest player in NFL history.

“GOAT” has been so misused and overused that it’s now the “GOAT” of meaningless phrases. But Brady, indeed, is the greatest of all-time.

Will Rodgers want to play second fiddle during enshrinement weekend? Or would he rather be the focal point of, say, the Class of 2029 or 2030? Rodgers has an ego – which isn’t a criticism; it’s awfully hard to get to the NFL without having that self-belief. Would he rather bask in the Hall of Fame spotlight as the headliner? Or would he prefer to spend all week hearing about Brady’s seven Super Bowl rings?

Obviously, Rodgers wouldn’t come back for another season just to avoid sharing the Hall of Fame stage with Brady. But if Rodgers were to be working on one of those cliched pros and cons list of playing vs. retiring, you’d think it would deserve a mention on the bottom of the page, if nothing else.

In 23 seasons, Brady amassed NFL records of 7,753 completions, 89,214 passing yards, 649 passing touchdowns, 333 starts and 58 game-winning drives. With Brady’s retirement, here are the career leaderboards among active players.

Completions: Matt Ryan, 5,551; Aaron Rodgers, 5,001; Matthew Stafford, 4,508. (Nobody else with 4,000).

Passing yards: Matt Ryan, 62,792; Aaron Rodgers, 59,055; Matthew Stafford; 52,082. (Nobody else with 43,000).

Touchdown passes: Aaron Rodgers, 475; Matt Ryan, 381; Matthew Stafford, 333; Russell Wilson, 308. (Nobody else with 260).

Interceptions (Tom Brady led with 212): Matt Ryan, 183; Matthew Stafford, 169; Joe Flacco, 147; Andy Dalton, 144. (Nobody else with 110; Aaron Rodgers has 105).

Starts: Matt Ryan, 234; Aaron Rodgers, 223; Marcedes Lewis, 221; Jason Peters, 219; Duane Brown, 215.

Game-winning drives: Matt Ryan, 46; Matthew Stafford, 42; Russell Wilson, 35; Derek Carr, 33; Aaron Rodgers, 31.

Brady is coming off a dismal season by his career standard. So is Rodgers, which is why he might follow in Brady’s footsteps and finish his career with a different team than the one in which he grew into a star. In 2022, Brady’s Buccaneers and Rodgers’ Packers led their teams to 8-9 records. Incredibly, it took Brady until his 23rd and final season to not post a winning record.

“The consistency where you’re still playing at a high level and there’s not the drop-off” is what impressed Rodgers about Brady, Rodgers said before the teams met in Week 3. “Every great player fears turning into a real below-average player on the way out. I don’t think anybody wants to really hang on. Maybe some guys just want to get another year, or they’re maybe on a team where they can do a lot less. But when you’ve achieved at a high level for a long time, you try and stay there for as long as you can.”

Especially if it means not having to share the stage with Brady in Canton in five years.

Tom Brady vs. the Packers

Tom Brady went 5-3 against the Green Bay Packers, including 3-2 vs. Aaron Rodgers. Here are those games.

Oct. 13, 2002: Packers 28, Patriots 10

Brett Favre threw his 300th career touchdown pass as Green Bay rolled past the defending Super Bowl champions. With that, Favre moved into third place on the all-time list. “It means I’m playing and producing, and we're winning. That’s about it. What matters is winning.”

In Year 2 of what would become a legendary career, Brady had 32 scoring strikes while on his way to an NFL-record 649. On the day, Favre threw three touchdown passes while Brady tossed three interceptions.

“It goes from emergency to panic real quick,” Brady said.

Nov. 19, 2006: Patriots 35, Packers 0

Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes while Brett Favre completed only five passes before exiting with an injured elbow. Aaron Rodgers replaced Favre and went 4-of-12 for 32 yards before exiting with a broken foot that ended his season.

“When you can count the number of first downs on one hand, it’s embarrassing,” center Scott Wells said.

Dec. 19, 2010: Patriots 31, Packers 27

With Aaron Rodgers out with a concussion sustained the week prior at Detroit, Matt Flynn went toe to toe with Tom Brady. Flynn was excellent, throwing for 251 yards and three touchdowns, and the Packers outgained the Patriots 369-249. How did Green Bay lose? Lineman Dan Connolly returned a kickoff 71 yards to set up a touchdown late in the first half, Flynn threw a pick-six to start the second half and Flynn fumbled on the Patriots’ 15 on the final play.

“I don't care what you guys think. We came here to win. We’re nobody’s underdog,” coach Mike McCarthy famously said afterward. His team would not lose the rest of the season en route to winning the Super Bowl.

Nov. 30, 2014: Packers 26, Patriots 21

Aaron Rodgers threw for 368 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers held off Tom Brady in what seemed like a potential Super Bowl preview. Brady had the Patriots on the doorstep of winning but Ha Ha Clinton-Dix broke up a pass near the goal line to Rob Gronkowski, and Mike Daniels and Mike Neal combined to sack Brady on third down. A Rodgers-to-Randall Cobb completion on third-and-4 iced the game.

“We have some big goals, and we’re getting into December football now with a chance with everything right in front of us,” Rodgers said.

New England wound up winning the Super Bowl, a 28-24 victory over Seattle. The Seahawks, of course, won the NFC championship after Green Bay's colossal late-game meltdown.

Nov. 4, 2018: Patriots 31, Packers 17

Aaron Rodgers threw game-tying touchdowns to Davante Adams and Jimmy Graham but the Patriots dominated the fourth quarter. Aaron Jones fumbled, and James White’s 1-yard touchdown made it 24-17. After the Packers went three-and-out, Tom Brady hit Josh Gordon for a 55-yard touchdown. Brady threw for 294 yards and one score.

“If you play long enough, and you have the sustained greatness that Tom has had, there's going to be a lot of records," Rodgers said. "He's been the gold standard at quarterback for two decades.”

Oct. 18, 2020: Buccaneers 38, Packers 10

Green Bay bolted to a 10-0 lead and had the ball again when Aaron Rodgers threw an interception that Jamel Dean returned 32 yards for a touchdown. One play changed everything as the Buccaneers won in a rout. Rodgers had a 35.4 passer rating in one of the worst days of his career while Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes.

“That sh** happens,” Rodgers said of just the third pick-six of his career. “I haven’t had a lot of those over the years. But the wind was blowing pretty good right to left. I felt good about the spot. I knew it was tight, we’ve hit throws like that, but I missed on my spot by probably a foot or so. And the kid made a good play.”

Jan. 4, 2021 (NFC Championship): Buccaneers 31, Packers 26

Aaron Rodgers threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns. Tom Brady threw interceptions on three consecutive possessions in the second half. None of it mattered, though. In an empty Lambeau Field, it was Brady celebrating an NFC Championship Game victory and yet another trip to the Super Bowl. And it was Rodgers contemplating his future.

“I don’t know, I really don’t,” Rodgers said. “There’s a lot of unknowns going into this offseason now. I’m going to have to take some time away, for sure, and clear my head and just kind of see what’s going on with everything. But it’s pretty tough right now, especially thinking about the guys that may or may not be here next year. There’s always change. That’s the only constant in this business. It’s really tough to get to this point. Really, really tough, especially with there being only one bye week in the playoffs. It’s a grind just to get to this point. And that makes the finality of it all kind of hit you like a ton of bricks. That’s why it’s a gutting feeling in your stomach. Ugh.”

Sept. 25, 2022: Packers 14, Buccaneers 12

Forget Aaron Rodgers vs. Tom Brady. Defense wins championships and two championship-level defenses engaged in a steamy slugfest. The Packers, staggered and hanging on for dear life, clung to a 14-12 triumph when De’Vondre Campbell broke up Brady's two-point pass with 14 seconds to go.

In vintage Brady form, the Buccaneers drove to a late touchdown, with Russell Gage absorbing a big hit by Rasul Douglas with 14 seconds remaining. On the do-or-tie two-point play, the Buccaneers were flagged for delay of game. It was a colossal, simple mistake by the legendary quarterback. Pushed back to the 7, Brady went back to his only healthy receiver, Gage, but Campbell used every bit of his 6-foot-4 inch frame to make a leaping deflection.

“I have a ton of respect for him,” Rodgers said of Brady. “He’s been a trailblazer at the position for a long time. I’m thankful to be in the conversation with some all-time greats in this generation. I feel like I’m in that conversation. It’s been a lot of fun competing against Tom over the years and it’s always nice coming out on top because it hasn’t happened that many times.”