Pittsburgh Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger recently campaigned for Aaron Rodgers to sign with the club sooner rather than later so that Rodgers could begin working under head coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith before the organized team activities portion of the offseason program gets underway on May 27.
During a Wednesday update offered on Bleacher Report’s YouTube channel, NFL insider James Palmer indicated Tomlin and Smith will be fine if Rodgers remains unsigned through the first week of June.
“What we want to look at is mandatory minicamp,” Palmer explained, as shared by Troy Montgomery of Steelers Depot. “That’s when he would probably want to be there, and that’s not until June 10-12. …Right now, there’s not a rush to have him appear. They’re not upset if he does miss OTAs, to my understanding. But mandatory minicamp, that’s something we probably should keep an eye on in terms of the movement of Aaron Rodgers.
As of Wednesday, the Steelers reportedly remained “optimistic that Rodgers will sign and be their starter” for at least the 2025 season. That evening, the NFL confirmed that Pittsburgh will open the upcoming campaign with a Week 1 matchup at the New York Jets on Sept. 7.
Noteworthy members of the NFL community, such as Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and NFL Network’s Rich Eisen, noted that the league scheduling Pittsburgh to face Rodgers’ most-recent club on the opening weekend of the season shows there’s a “strong indication” the league “believes” the 41-year-old will be the Steelers’ QB1.
According to Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero said during a Wednesday appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show” that he anticipates Rodgers “is going to end up committing to play for the” Steelers and that the conclusion of this saga is “a matter of when, not if.”The fact that longtime backup Mason Rudolph would be Pittsburgh’s starter if the club had to begin preparing to play a game this weekend has some convinced the Steelers have a handshake agreement worked out with Rodgers.
As Pelissero said, though, Rodgers is arguably the biggest “enigma of the NFL.” Until the future Hall of Famer officially puts pen to paper on a deal, outsiders can only wonder what he’s thinking regarding his intentions for the 2025 season.
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