The Pittsburgh Steelers are still awaiting Aaron Rodgers’ decision regarding the upcoming season, but they may have just received a significant update from someone close to the former MVP.
Although Rodgers met with team executives earlier in the offseason, he has yet to sign or confirm if he plans to play for the Steelers — or return to football at all — in 2025. However, his biographer believes a decision is imminent and expects Rodgers to make it official soon.
Aaron Rodgers May Have Already Committed to Steelers
During a Sunday appearance on The PM Team on 93.7 The Fan, Aaron Rodgers’ biographer Ian O’Connor hinted that the quarterback’s future may not be as uncertain to the Steelers as it appears publicly. While Rodgers hasn’t made any formal announcements about signing with Pittsburgh, O’Connor suggested he’s already given the team a private indication of his intentions.
“I just think verbally, behind the scenes — not that he guaranteed it — but he’s told [the Steelers], ‘Listen, I’m gonna play for you. I just don’t want to go there and then miss part of mandatory minicamp because of my personal issues,’” O’Connor said, according to Ross McCorkle of SteelersDepot.com.
O’Connor also offered a tentative timeline, indicating that Rodgers is likely to make his signing official by the end of the month.
“I’m pretty sure \[his personal issues] are gonna be solved by the end of May, at least to my satisfaction where I can give you my all,” O’Connor said.
Aaron Rodgers Has Left Everyone in the Dark
If Aaron Rodgers does intend to sign with the Steelers, he’s managed to keep his intentions well under wraps. While many insiders believe he’ll eventually join the team, there have been no leaks from Rodgers’ camp, and even top NFL officials say they have no clue about his decision.
Following the announcement that the Steelers will face the New York Jets — Rodgers’ former team — NFL vice president of broadcasting and scheduling Mike North clarified that the matchup was not scheduled based on any insider knowledge about Rodgers’ plans.
“We don’t know anything more than anybody else,” Mike North said on a conference call, per ESPN. “The schedule was built for Coach \[Mike] Tomlin and for the Steelers, and if Aaron decides to play, it probably just makes many, if not all, the Steelers games a little more interesting.”
With no official decision yet from Rodgers, some analysts have suggested the Steelers may need to bolster their quarterback room. Veteran Mason Rudolph is currently penciled in as the starter, but that situation is expected to change by Week 1 — regardless of whether Rodgers signs.
CBS Sports analyst Bryan DeArdo suggested that if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t sign, the Steelers might need to consider bringing in another veteran quarterback — possibly Carson Wentz.
“A former Pro Bowler with the Eagles, Wentz’s career took a major turn following his knee injury late in the 2017 regular season,” DeArdo wrote. “While his career probably hasn’t gone the way that he had hoped it would in the years following his injury, Wentz has still managed to carve out a relatively successful nine-year career that included a trip to the Super Bowl last year as Patrick Mahomes’ backup in Kansas City.”
