It’s officially, official. The Pittsburgh Steelers announced signing quarterback Aaron Rodgers late Thursday night.
With the announcement, the Steelers posted on social media that Rodgers agreed to a one-year contract. The full financial terms of the deal have yet to be revealed, but on Friday, multiple league insiders shared around what the contract will be worth.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that Rodgers’ one-year deal is for less than $20 million.
“Money was NEVER the issue in deal with Aaron Rodgers,” Dulac tweeted. “It was always a one-year offer for less than $20 million.”
To get close to the $20 million mark, though, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Rodgers is going to have to reach incentives built into the deal.
“Aaron Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show he’d play for $10 million, and that’s where the base salary is expected to be with some incentives to get a little higher,” Rapoport said Friday, via Penn Live’s Nick Farabaugh. “It is not going to be a big money deal.”
Those terms are in line with what Rodgers told ESPN’s Pat McAfee on April 17 that he wanted.
“There’s been a lot of people assuming they have information about me, and it’s just not true.” Rodgers said on The Pat McAfee Show. “I told every single one of the teams that I talked to that it ain’t about the money that I would play for $10M.”
“I never once said I needed a multi-year deal. $30, $40 million is absolute bull****.”
Those comments appeared to be in reference to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who argued Rodgers could be aiming to sign a two-year, $90 million deal this offseason.
At the time of the argument, Florio called his Rodgers contract projection an “educated guess.”
Steelers’ Aaron Rodgers to Make Less Than $20 Million: Report
Details about how much the Steelers were offering Rodgers has been a talking point since Florio’s projection. Florio’s “educated guess” came on March 10, which was the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period.
At that time, the Steelers weren’t really considered the top destination for Rodgers. But they quickly became that when Justin Fields signed with the New York Jets.
Afterward Fields signing, the same day as Florio’s educated guess, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Rodgers signing with the Steelers was “in play.”
Pundits were having a hard time understanding why the Steelers would agree to pay Rodgers $90 million over two seasons. Rodgers will turn 42 years old in December, and he’s posted a 14-21 record over the past three years.
Then when Rodgers didn’t sign immediately in free agency, pundits argued it was because the Steelers had made the quarterback an offer much lower than the two-year, $90 million projection.
Rodgers waited more than a month, but he eventually dispelled Florio’s claims. The quarterback appears to be living up to his statements to McAfee with his official Steelers contract.
Rodgers’ deal with the Jets was a three-year, $112.5 million deal. His last extension with the Green Bay Packers was a three-year, $150.8 million contract.
According to Spotrac, Rodgers has made $380.66 million in his NFL career.
Steelers Earning Reputation of Signing Cheap Veteran QBs
There’s been a lot of negative about Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation the past several years. But if there’s been one obvious positive, the team has found value at the position.
While a lot of NFL teams have overpaid for quarterbacks such as Dak Prescott, Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins and a few others recently, the Steelers have signed veterans very cheaply the last two offseasons.
Last year, the Steelers inked Russell Wilson to a league-minimum contract because the Denver Broncos still owned him more than $38 million.
With Rodgers not caring about the money, the Steelers are adding a quarterback for much less than his market value.
Whether the Steelers can use the extra salary cap space to help its roster elsewhere remains to be seen. With a $1.2 million starting quarterback in 2024, Pittsburgh won 10 games but again suffered a first-round playoff exit.
