The biggest "will he or won't he" saga of the NFL offseason concluded when quarterback Aaron Rodgers signed a team-friendly contract to join the Pittsburgh Steelers in time to participate in their three-day mandatory minicamp that kicked off on Tuesday.
Rodgers has seemingly impressed his new teammates and coaches in his brief time as a member of the organization.
For a piece published Thursday, Brooke Pryor of ESPN noted that Rodgers asked Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth to have the playbook printed out so the future Hall of Famer could take notes. Administrative assistant Chrissy Bulger obliged and also "included a pouch of pencils, erasers and highlighters" in a binder presented to Rodgers during minicamp.
"After the meeting, Aaron came and asked, 'Did you say Chrissy put this together?'" Arth explained this week. "He went over and first he thanked her for putting it all together, and he gave her back the pencils and the pen and the highlighters and said, 'I already bought my own. And I don't want you to have to order any more.' It was just a very thoughtful way to introduce himself to Chrissy and start building that relationship. That definitely stood out to me."
Analysts and even some former Steelers players ripped Rodgers for skipping a majority of springtime workouts when it appeared obvious to outsiders that the 41-year-old was always going to serve as Pittsburgh's 2025 Week 1 QB1. Numerous teammates have spoken highly of Rodgers since he put pen to paper on his deal that made him Pittsburgh's starter and a mentor for rookie signal-caller Will Howard.
"You would think he's this big-time famous guy -- everybody knows Aaron Rodgers, but he's super down-to-earth and not at all what you would expect," Howard said. "And just super personable in the last day that I've been talking to him."
Rodgers allegedly didn't always have the best of relationships with younger teammates over the final few seasons of his Green Bay Packers tenure and when he was with the New York Jets across the past two campaigns. It remains to be seen how Steelers players will view Rodgers come February 2026, but it sounds as if he passed his first tests as a member of the storied franchise.
