The 2025 NFL schedule will be announced tonight, and the Pittsburgh Steelers still don’t have an answer from Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers made it clear that he’s dealing with personal issues that require most of his attention. The Steelers have been patient, waiting to see if Rodgers will return to football and sign with them. However, OTAs will be here soon, and it might be awkward if Rodgers still isn’t on the team by then. According to NFL insider James Palmer, Rodgers missing OTAs wouldn’t be too much of an issue for the Steelers.
“What we want to look at is mandatory minicamp,” Palmer said Wednesday on Bleacher Report’s YouTube channel. “That’s when he would probably want to be there, and that’s not until June 10th through the 12th.
“Yes, there’s OTAs, 27th through the 29th in May, the 3rd through the 5th in June. But 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.”
OTAs will mark the first time this offseason that the Steelers can hold full-squad practices at their team facility. It’s a good chance for new players to continue integrating themselves into their new team. While it isn’t mandatory, most of the players will show up for the six practices.
Therefore, the Steelers would probably prefer that Rodgers be there for OTAs. However, as they’ve demonstrated throughout this saga, they are nothing if not patient when it comes to the four-time NFL MVP. OTAs are important, but if Rodgers shows up for mandatory minicamp, Pittsburgh probably won’t feel too scorned.
Getting Rodgers to finally sign with them would likely make the Steelers happy enough. Mandatory minicamp would give him an opportunity to get to know his new teammates. It would also eliminate any questions about his future heading into training camp. The Steelers would be able to focus on making sure 2025 is better than 2024.
At the end of the day, if Rodgers signs with the Steelers and is ready to go by Week 1, then missing OTAs won’t look like too big of a deal. However, if he isn’t signed by mandatory minicamp, then things might become a little more complicated. Either way, the waiting game continues.
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