Experience goes a long way in the NFL, especially at the quarterback position. But it gets to a point where sometimes you play longer than your body allows you to. There’s a handful of quarterbacks that have outlived their expiration date in the NFL and it’s going to cost them this season, playing an extra year.
While quarterbacks like Matthew Stafford and Tom Brady have seemingly defied father time, others, not so much. One quarterback that’s been heavily scrutinized for possibly playing longer than they should is Aaron Rodgers. His age is showing with his lack of mobility and inability to instill fear in secondaries with his arm strength like he once did.
Along with Rodgers, here’s a few more quarterbacks that probably should have retired after last season, and will come to the realization that they played a year too long.
3 quarterbacks that should have retired after the 2024 season
Aaron Rodgers
Rodgers’ time with the New York Jets was frustrating, to say the least. He didn’t look anything like he did in Green Bay and when he was supposed to elevate the Jets and help them return to the playoffs. Instead, he helped them earn a top 10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. His move to the Pittsburgh Steelers is going to prove he played a year too long.
The expectations on him this season are so high, anything less than a Super Bowl run and people will clamor he shouldn’t have come back in 2025. This season isn’t about proving he is the missing piece for the Steelers as much as proving he still has it.
Brady was able to win a Super Bowl past the age of 40, but it’s a rare occurrence. Rodgers can add his name to the list too if he accomplishes that this season. Rodgers alluded to this being his final season. So anything less than a championship and it’s proof he probably played one year too many.
Kirk Cousins
Kirk Cousins endured a horrid stretch where he threw eight interceptions and no touchdowns across four games, including a four-interception game. Before he was benched to end the year, he had just one touchdown pass in his last five games. If tearing his Achilles wasn’t a sign that he should retire, the way last season went should.
And if you take into account how this offseason went, it makes you wonder if Cousins is accepting he might be done playing in the NFL. He said he wanted to land with a team that had a quarterback vacancy, but opted to wait until after the draft to avoid what happened last year with Michael Penix Jr. and the Atlanta Falcons.
Yet, instead of waiving his no-trade clause, he stayed with the Falcons and now they have every reason to turn to Penix full time in 2025. Cousins is ultimately going to be relegated to backup and mentor. Which is good for him, he did a phenomenal job last year when Raheem Morris yanked him out of the starting lineup.
Cousins probably doesn’t want to be a backup though and wants to contribute on the field. It seems he won’t get that chance again and returning in 2025 will probably be more disappointing to him than rewarding.
Joe Flacco
Back in the 2023 season, the Cleveland Browns turned to Joe Flacco to save the season and he managed to take the Browns to a 11-6 record and wild card appearance. It earned him another year in the NFL as he played with the Indianapolis Colts. And then another year when Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry decided to run it back with Flacco amid Deshaun Watson re-tearing his Achilles.
Flacco is in a crowded quarterback room and truthfully, probably shouldn’t be the frontrunner for the starting job. But when it’s the Cleveland Browns, nothing is out of the question. Flacco was pulled off his couch and probably shouldn’t have returned to the NFL. He returned and last year was proof he shouldn’t have been back for 2025.
With the Colts, he played in eight games and had 1,761 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He won just three of his eight starts last year. Flacco’s magic has long expired and it won’t be recaptured this season.