"Steelers are just hanging" - NFL analyst hinges Aaron Rodgers' future in Pittsburgh on mandatory minicamp window
Aaron Rodgers is still unsigned well into OTAs despite a long-standing rumor mill linking him to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And now, one prominent figure has set a deadline of sorts for both sides to reach an agreement.
The multiple-time MVP has held off on a concrete decision to deal with bouts of cancer involving some close friends, something that he revealed on The Joe Rogan Experience. But speaking on SportsCenter on Saturday, Jeremy Fowler set mandatory minicamp as his last shot at getting a contract:
“The hold up is the Steelers are just kind of hanging here... We always knew with his first foray into free agency in his 20-year career. This was all going to be very unpredictable so right now, the Steelers are working with Mason Rudolph and rookie Will Howard at the OTAs. The hope would be that around June 10th through 12th, Rodgers would be there.”
Meanwhile, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero insinuated on Friday's episode of Rich Eisen's eponymous show that the Steelers' locker room might be growing frustrated with such dithering (from 7:15):
“If I’m the Steelers, if I’m a player on that team, if I’m a coach on that team, if I’m the owner of that team, I want the circus to happen as soon as possible. I want that done. I want that dead and buried before we show up to Latrobe for training camp.”
Steelers' Aaron Rodgers dilemma may have been self-inflicted
Back in April, just before the Draft, head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan hinted at holding off on a final quarterback decision until late July - i.e., well into summer camp. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers had said to Pat McAfee that he considered himself “open to everything and not specifically attached to anything” - in other words, he had no deadline in mind.
The result, according to Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson, is a self-made mess. The parallels and ironies are plentiful here as well - the veteran quarterback hoping that the Minnesota Vikings reconsider their stance on him and let him emulate his predecessor Brett Favre, and him skipping OTAs even though he did the exact opposite with the New York Jets.
The writer concludes:
"To lean on the words of Steelers owner Art Rooney II, it’s a reality Pittsburgh will have to live with 'a little while longer.' And then maybe longer than that."
The Steelers' 2025 season begins on September 7 at the Jets. Kickoff is at 1 pm on CBS.