Former NY Jets star says Aaron Rodgers must retire for his own good

The NY Jets will face a pivotal offseason decision regarding Aaron Rodgers' future, but before they can move forward, Rodgers must first make a decision on his own future plans.

The four-time MVP will turn 42 years old by the end of the 2025 season, and while early indications are that he's still hoping to play at least one more year, Rodgers has stopped short of committing to 2025.

There's still a possibility that Rodgers decides to retire at the end of the season, and if you ask at least one former Jets star, that's exactly the route he should take.

Former Jets linebacker and Rookie of the Year Jonathan Vilma spoke to Kyle Odegard of SportsLens last week, and when asked about Rodgers, he made his thoughts abundantly clear. Rodgers should hang up the cleats for his own good.

"He should retire. I want to remember Aaron Rodgers as one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game. I just remember staying up late at night [and] shaking my head because you can’t stop him. You can slow him down, you can hope he would have an off day, but you [can’t] stop him … That’s how I want to remember him. I don’t want to remember him as this guy who doesn’t look like himself."

Jonathan Vilma

Will Aaron Rodgers be the NY Jets' quarterback in 2025?

Vilma wants to remember the glory days of Rodgers as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. He wants to remember Rodgers as the four-time MVP and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer. Unfortunately, that version of Rodgers appears to be in the past.

The 41-year-old has looked like a shell of his former self for much of the 2024 season as injuries have once again plagued him. Rodgers has battled through a hamstring strain, an MCL sprain, and a high-ankle sprain, and while he's started all 14 games for the Jets, the injuries have clearly taken their toll.

Rodgers, to his credit, has looked much better in recent weeks. He's thrown 13 touchdowns and just one interception over his last seven games and has moved better than he has all season. Unfortunately, it's become a case of too little, too late.

The Jets are 4-10 and have already been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention for the 14th consecutive season. Even if Rodgers decides to keep playing, there's no guarantee that he will be on the Jets' roster in 2025.

The financial implications of keeping Rodgers for another year aren't pretty and the next regime might prefer a clean slate with minimal dead cap in 2026 and beyond.

If the Jets do move on, it's hard to imagine Rodgers will have a long list of potential suitors. He'll likely find a home somewhere, but there won't be a line of contending teams vying for the services of an injury-riddled soon-to-be 42-year-old quarterback coming off a shaky season.

Maybe Vilma is right. Maybe Rodgers should see the writing on the wall and call it quits before he tarnishes his legacy even further. But for a competitor like Rodgers, it's oftentimes not that simple.

Rodgers came to New York because he still believed he could play football at a high level. He wanted to finish out the twilight of his career by bringing success to a long-suffering franchise.

Perhaps Rodgers still has something left in the tank, but the reality is the window of opportunity for the Jets to win with him at quarterback has likely shut. It might be time to move on.

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