Darius Slay Thinks Aaron Rodgers Can Improve on 2025 Season with Steelers

What Happened Darius Slay, who spent years covering routes in the NFC and now watches quarterbacks for a living as an analyst, thinks Aaron Rodgers isn't done improving. Speaking about the Steelers' 42-year-old signal-caller, Slay said Rodgers "can still move around a little bit" and remains "comfortable in the pocket" with enough arm strength to make the throws Pittsburgh needs. It's a notable take given Rodgers just posted the lowest passing yardage and touchdown totals of his healthy starting career.

The Numbers Behind the Take Last season, Rodgers threw for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and just seven interceptions across 16 games. That interception total is elite — Rodgers clearly still knows how to protect the football — but the yardage and touchdown numbers were career lows for a season in which he started (and stayed healthy) all year. That's the tension here: Rodgers is efficient, but the explosive-play version of him from Green Bay is long gone.

Why the Steelers Brought Him Back Despite the decline in raw production, Pittsburgh re-signed Rodgers for 2026 because, bluntly, he still gave them a better shot at winning than the alternatives on the roster. The Steelers have cycled through quarterbacks since Ben Roethlisberger retired, and none of those stopgaps came close to producing what Rodgers did in his first year in Pittsburgh. For a team built around defense and a strong supporting cast, a low-mistake, veteran quarterback who can still layer throws and extend plays when needed is a real asset — even if he's not the MVP-caliber Rodgers of a decade ago.

The Case for Skepticism Age is still the biggest variable. Rodgers turns 43 during the 2026 season, and quarterbacks in their 40s typically decline rather than rebound, even with strong surrounding talent. Mobility tends to be the first thing to go, and Slay's comment that Rodgers "can still move around a little bit" is a pretty modest bar. It's not an endorsement of Rodgers returning to peak form — it's an acknowledgment that he hasn't fallen off a cliff.

What to Watch If the Steelers' offensive line holds up and the run game takes pressure off Rodgers, there's a reasonable path to modest improvement in efficiency stats, even if the counting numbers stay similar. Watch his interception rate and third-down conversion numbers early in the season — those tend to show decline (or improvement) before the box score yardage totals do.