How will the Aaron Rodgers saga end?
The 2025 NFL draft has come and gone, but the Aaron Rodgers saga continues. The Pittsburgh Steelers, the team most linked to the future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, got themselves a new signal-caller via the draft, but the talk about Rodgers landing with the AFC North division franchise persists.
Steelers team owner and president Art Rooney II even seemingly dropped a hint on Rodgers coming to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later.
“We're still kind of getting the same signals that we've been getting recently,” Rooney said during an appearance on Steelers Nation Radio last Friday (h/t Brooke Pryor of ESPN). “He does want to come here, so I do think we may get word soon.”
The Steelers waited until the sixth round to take a quarterback. They had chances to take controversial QB prospect Shedeur Sanders, who was eventually taken by division rival Cleveland Browns in the fifth round, but opted to select former Ohio State Buckeyes star signal-caller Will Howard with the 185th pick overall. But before the Steelers took Howard, Rooney offered an insight about the team's approach to Aaron Rodgers, seemingly providing a clue that the four-time NFL Most Valuable Player was still very much in the team's radar.
“We did not factor in whether Aaron is coming or not into that,” Rooney shared during the early phases of the draft. “If we do draft a quarterback — and we still might — it's probably not going to be somebody who is going to start for us this year. It's going to be somebody who is developing and may play down the road.”
Having virtually ruled out Howard as a starter come the start of the 2025 NFL season, the Steelers can be expected to stick with Mason Rudolph as their QB1 by Week 1. But if Rodgers and the Steelers eventually come to terms for a partnership, Rudolph would — and should — slide down the QB depth chart, which also features former Miami Dolphins quarterback Skylar Thompson in the fold.
The 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers appeared in 17 games in the 2024 NFL season with the New York Jets, throwing for 3,897 passing yards and 28 touchdowns with 11 interceptions on a 63.0 percent completion rate.
Steelers actions confirm their faith in Aaron Rodgers
Technically, Rodgers isn't a Steeler until he signs on the dotted line. But whether it was the words of Art Rooney on Friday when he said, "he does want to come here" regarding the latest on Rodgers, the fact the team is still a QB shy of their training camp quota, or that they didn't use any significant draft capital on a QB despite meeting with Jalen Milroe, Jaxson Dart and Shedeur Sanders.
But many are still asking who will be throwing the ball, and up until Rodgers takes pictures with a Steelers jersey next to Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin at his introductory press conference, people will remain skeptical. Just look at the top comment on this Steelers Instagram post regarding Jack Saywer of all players...
"You know, I live kind of a quiet life," said Rodgers during his most recent appearance on the Pat McAfee show. "If it weren't for my buddy Tim and my sister Mia, I wouldn't hear about a lot of the bulls--- that's out there...
"...I'm in a different phase of my life. I'm 41 years old, I'm in a serious relationship. I have off-the-field stuff going on that requires my attention. I have personal commitments I made not knowing what my future was going to look like after last year, that are important to me."
Some believed the draft was a deadline for Rodgers to Pittsburgh, but Mike Tomlin named a line of demarcation in Palm Beach at the end of March, and he reiterated that during his pre-draft presser, noting training camp as the last ditch effort.
I expect, league sources expect and everyone in football media expects Rodgers to be in Pittsburgh well before the end of July.
But you never know what Rodgers is thinking and until he makes things official, the question will remain.
