"He's clearly entering the Brett Favre zone" - Mike Florio explains how Aaron Rodgers could retire at the same time as Tom Brady

Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, two of the greats from the last couple of decades, are both on the doorstep of retirement. Tom Brady, fresh off a mid-preseason hiatus, is gearing up for a season that could be his last, according to many. With the FOX deal waiting in the wings, fans are prepared for 2022 to be his swansong.

Meanwhile, not many have strong expectations for Aaron Rodgers to retire after this year. However, one NFL analyst has floated a scenario that could push the quarterback to quit the sport for good, which could line up closely to Brady deciding to hang it up.

Speaking on Pro Football Talk Live, NFL analyst Mike Florio claimed the quarterback wouldn't be able to take another playoff loss. Here's how he put it:

"I'm going to push back on the idea that he's going to probably want to keep playing if he wins an MVP award. I don't think there's a connection there. And if they flame out again in the playoffs, maybe he does walk away. He said it himself in June. He thinks about retirement all the time."

Yes. It’s all ❤️. There was more to the answer though, Can’t believe they cut that part out. #69hasPinkEye @DavidBakhtiari # twitter.com/ScottGrodsky/s…

He went on to say that if the quarterback is thinking about retiring, he's already taking his foot off the gas:

"If you're thinking about retirement all the time, you're already partially retired. Now, I don't know what he's going to do this offseason. Go back to Peru for another shot of ayahuasca. I don't know. But he's clearly entering the 'Brett Farve' zone and Brett Favre was in that zone for like six years before he finally retired."

Can’t be hiding those #brows coach
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He went on to point out that the quarterback has been thinking about retiring for a while:

"Well, we're now two years into Aaron Rodgers and this very public inner monologue of 'What do I do? Am I going to retire? Am I going to try to play for somebody else? What am I going to do?'"

Aaron Rodgers' playoff struggles

Mike Florio claims that another playoff loss could be the catalyst for the quarterback's retirement. What brought him to this point? Long-time Packers fans can trace back his playoff struggles to when he won the Super Bowl.

At the end of the 2010 season, Aaron Rodgers hoisted the Lombardi Trophy just three years into his career. At the time, most expected his success to continue. For the next five years, it did, but there was a clear ceiling forming.

Despite having no problems making the playoffs, the quarterback failed to get back to the Super Bowl.

At the time, fans defended the quarterback and blamed the roster and head coach Mike McCarthy. Over time, the roster saw a turnover and the head coach was eventually replaced in 2019. With Matt LaFleur at the reins, the quarterback reached two consecutive NFC Championship games.

However, after the team lost in the divisional round of the 2021 playoffs, the tune started to shift against Rodgers. Will this put a chip on his shoulder and force him to push through to the Super Bowl in 2022, or will this be the last shot he's giving it, as Florio surmises?