Could Aaron Rodgers follow in Brett Favre’s footsteps one last time and become the Vikings’ QB in 2025?

Future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers has done his best to live his NFL career differently than his Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame predecessor Brett Favre. However, he will soon have the opportunity to retrace Favre’s steps.

Favre is the NFL’s all-time interceptions leader, having thrown 508 touchdown passes and 336 interceptions. Rodgers did everything he could to avoid turnovers, and largely has, posting the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in NFL history (4.39) with 492 touchdown passes and 112 interceptions. Favre became notoriously angry at his eventual replacement in Rodgers after the latter was picked in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, and Rodgers made sure to treat his eventual replacement, Jordan Love, who backed him up for three seasons afterward. of being selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, with kindness and respect.

The former teammates and all-time greats have a lot in common when it comes to their careers: They both won at least three NFL MVPs (three for Favre and four for Rodgers) and a Super Bowl in their tenure as Packers starting quarterbacks. Both were traded to the New York Jets after becoming unhappy with Green Bay’s front office when the organization made it clear it wanted to move on to its first-round reserves.

After Rodgers’ disappointing 2024 season, he now has a chance to follow in Favre’s footsteps one last time: He can become the quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings in the final stop of his 20-plus-year NFL career. after a full, disappointing season as the Jets’ starter. attacking player.

This may seem crazy, but let’s take a step-by-step look at how this shocking possibility could become a reality and why it would make sense.

Step 1: Jets release Rodgers at season’s end

with new york firing general manager Joe Douglas On Tuesday, their next general manager and head coach probably won’t enjoy starting their new regime with a 41-year-old quarterback they didn’t draft coming off what could end up as the worst season of a future Hall of Famer. Fame career. New York does the The sensible thing for the Jets, in that scenario, is to simply release Rodgers. and eat the $49 million dead cap that such a transaction entails. SportsNet New York reports that the Jets would like to part ways with Rodgers at the end of the season. The Packers endured a $40 million hit to their 2023 salary cap and reached the Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs, so that’s not necessarily a death sentence.

*Min. two games started

Step 2: The Vikings decide not to re-sign Sam Darnold to a multi-year contract after the best season of his career.

Sure, Sam Darnold leads the NFL with 14 turnovers this season, but he has produced career-highs in completion percentage (67.9%), passing yards per game (238.7) and passer rating ( 100.0) in 2024. Plus, he’ll only be 28 in 2025, meaning some team without a quarterback will pay to acquire his services when he hits free agency next March.

It wouldn’t make sense for the Vikings to make a long-term commitment to Darnold with the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Michigan’s JJ McCarthy, waiting in the wings. McCarthy is also different from what Rodgers was behind Favre and Love was behind Rodgers: He is not just quietly developing behind the scenes. McCarthy is recovering from a second knee surgery this season. He tore his meniscus in the preseason and he needed a second operation on his right knee to help combat the swelling that started in his knee once McCarthy stepped up his physical therapy regimen.

Step 3: The Vikings decide to bring in a veteran bridge quarterback with McCarthy returning from a major knee injury.

Minnesota originally signed Darnold last offseason to serve as a bridge quarterback in case McCarthy wasn’t an immediate starter and so he could have a veteran mentor. It would be understandable for them to bring another veteran into their quarterback room in case there are any further setbacks with McCarthy’s recovery. Knee injuries with top 10 young quarterbacks are nothing to trifle with — just ask 2012 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III about that.

Step 4: Rodgers officially decides to continue playing football

Rodgers himself said: “I think so, yes.” when asked if he still wants to play football in 2025. Why does he still want to play when he accomplished everything the NFL has to offer, from league MVP to winning the Super Bowl to winning Super Bowl MVP?

Perhaps no one has a better idea of ​​what motivates Rodgers than his favorite target, Davante Adams, who has caught more touchdowns (69) from the mercurial quarterback than any other player. This is what drives Rodgers to keep working for at least one more year despite a worst-case season.

“He’s accomplished a lot, obviously, but I think he’s driven by not being able to win multiple Super Bowls,” Adams said, via ESPN. “He has won one, but he has been in situations where he has had the opportunity to almost taste it, almost touch it. Not being able to secure a championship at a higher pace is something that, I won’t say that bothers him, but it has motivated him to move forward at this age.”

Step 5: Rodgers signs with the Vikings in free agency in 2025

The 2025 NFL free agency quarterback class is shrinking quickly after Darnold and Rodgers. Zach Wilson, Jacoby Brissett, Marcus Mariota, Andy Dalton, Drew Lock, Jarrett Stidham, Justin Fields, Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston are the best of the rest.

None of them can provide the Hall of Fame experience that Rodgers can. Additionally, Rodgers is motivated to play at a place he feels he can win. Throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson should be enough to draw him along with defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ top defense. There is also a familiarity with the scheme between Rodgers and Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell. Like Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, with whom Rodgers won back-to-back NFL MVPs in 2020 and 2021, O’Connell comes from the Shanahan-McVay coaching tree. LaFleur worked as a quarterbacks coach under Shanahan and as McVay’s first offensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. O’Connell also worked as McVay’s Rams’ offensive coordinator for two seasons from 2020 to 2021.

Both LaFleur and O’Connell run variations of Shanahan’s scheme built around movement, lining up under center, a high use of play action and a zone blocking scheme. A year with Rodgers in Minnesota could help McCarthy’s development from both a health and football IQ perspective, and Rodgers could allow Minnesota to play a similar winning style of football while committing fewer turnovers than Darnold. Aside from his mobility being what it once was, playing an outdated and basic offensive scheme is one of the biggest things holding Rodgers back this season. He and O’Connell could be an ideal couple only for 2025, and then McCarthy could be completely ready to leave in 2026.

Plus, Rodgers is known for holding grudges, so he definitely still feels like he has a score to settle with Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst. Having the opportunity to play the Packers twice in 2025 would allow him to scratch that itch and fulfill his destiny as Brett Favre 2.0.