Peyton Manning’s career provided blueprint to retire an NFL legend, does Aaron Rodgers have time to follow in his footsteps?

Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning spent 18 regular seasons in the NFL. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is currently in his 18th season in the league.

Manning had a perfect Cinderella story as he retired on top of the game. He won his second Super Bowl and his first with the Denver Broncos.

Rodgers is on the brink of suffering his third-losing season, meaning he will miss the playoffs.

His passer rating of 92.3 is the lowest of any season of his career. As he's starting to age, Father Time is starting to get to him as he has drastically declined from the last two seasons, where he won league MVP.

One reason for his lack of production, besides age, is that he lost his number one target in All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams. Adams was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders, where he's recorded 82 catches for 1,247 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The question for Rodgers is, how long does he want to continue to play? The Packers don't seem to be a Super Bowl threat and haven't made it there since 2010. Rodgers is also 1-4 in his career in NFC Championship games.

While it didn't take Manning until the final season for his decline, his team was still good enough to go to and win the Super Bowl, as they had a well-rounded team with a great defense.

In Manning's final season with Denver, he went 7-2 as the starting quarterback in the regular season, throwing for 2,249 yards, nine touchdowns, and 17 interceptions, while completing 59.8 percent of passes. He was even benched for backup quarterback Brock Osweiler.

Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning's stats

Green Bay Packers v Denver Broncos

No doubt, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning are two of the best quarterbacks of all-time, and their resumes and stats speak for themselves.

Both quarterbacks are in the top-10 for passing yards, passing touchdowns, and total completions. Below is a table of their career stats:

Player	Pass Yds	Pass TD's	Interceptions	Completion Percentage	Passer Rating	Overall Record
Peyton Manning	71,940	539	251	65.3	96.5	186-79
Aaron Rodgers	58,224	471	102	65.3	103.8	144-74-1

Manning holds records for the most passing touchdowns in a single season (55), the most passing yards in a single-season (5,477), and he is tied for the most passing touchdowns in a single game (7).

Aaron Rodgers holds the record for the highest passer rating in a single season (122.5). He also holds the record for the best interception percentage in a season (0.3%), and he has the best career touchdown to interception ratio (4.74).

While Aaron Rodgers has nothing left to prove, if he continues to decline, it may be time to hang up his cleats.