Can Aaron Rodgers succeed signing this late? Brett Favre did it

There’s a moment in the Netflix documentary “Untold: The Fall of Favre” when the film is reliving Brett Favre’s late career stops, and a graphic shows when he signed with the Minnesota Vikings: Aug. 18, 2009.

Aug. 18? That can’t be possible. That was a few days before the Vikings’ second preseason game. We’ve heard over and over that quarterbacks need all offseason to build bonds with their new teammates and learn the offense. But Favre must have had a terrible 2009 season, starting that late. Right?

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Not exactly. He had maybe his best NFL season at age 40. Aaron Rodgers, who turns 42 this year, and the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t wait that long, with news breaking Thursday that Rodgers is on the verge of signing with the Steelers. But it’s still a question how effective he can be for them this season.

But Rodgers has been following Favre in many ways for many years. And waiting turned out just fine for Favre in Minnesota.

Can Aaron Rodgers be ready signing this late?

Favre’s 2009 offseason was wild. He said he was retiring after a season with the New York Jets and insisted he was never playing again. By the summer, that seemed to be a part of a plan to land with the Vikings. The Jets released him and he ended up with the Vikings.

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But not until mid-August. In late July, after training camp had already started, Favre insisted he was still retired. Then it changed. And you think that Rodgers not being signed in late May this year is a cause for alarm?

In Minnesota, Favre played in a West Coast offensive scheme he was familiar with, and that likely helped. But there weren’t many questions at the time about Favre assimilating himself with the Vikings. And it didn’t end up being an issue.

In 2009, Favre had one of the best seasons of his career. He posted a 107.2 passer rating, almost eight points higher than the second-best mark of his Hall of Fame career. He finished fourth in the MVP voting and had a good argument to win it. Had the Vikings not melted down late in the NFC championship game, Favre would have taken Minnesota to its only Super Bowl since the 1977 season.

He didn’t exactly need all those May minicamp reps. Rodgers might not either.

What can we expect from Rodgers now?

Favre is an outlier. But so is Rodgers.

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Rodgers and Favre are linked forever, and their careers have mirrored each other in many ways, from the multiple MVPs and single Super Bowl title, to the short late-career time with the Jets to a third team right before retirement.

Coaches are obsessive about practice reps, and mostly for good reason, but it can be overstated. Favre was fine in 2009. Offenses executed very well in 2020 after an unprecedented and mostly lost offseason due to COVID-19. Just two seasons ago Joe Flacco was signed by the Cleveland Browns in November and helped them to the playoffs. Smart veteran quarterbacks, especially ones with the pedigree of a Favre or Rodgers, usually figure things out.

Rodgers will now be with the team through the rest of the spring and the start of training camp. The Steelers no longer have to be the subject of anxious reports about him being ready for the season.

Rodgers is about to be a Steeler, and it still might end up just fine. It did for Rodgers’ former Packers teammate.