Former Pittsburgh Steelers executive and NFL general manager Doug Whaley revealed the team nearly landed Aaron Rodgers twenty years ago when he was coming out of California in the 2005 NFL Draft.
Whaley, who worked under general manager Kevin Colbert at the time, details how Rodgers’ legendary 2005 fall from a top-five pick to the mid-20s made the Steelers potentially consider taking him, even with Ben Roethlisberger around.
“We wouldn’t have had to (trade up),” Whaley said on 93.7 The Fan. “We would’ve just sat there. We had him higher than that. We were surprised he was slipping.”
Rodgers went 24th to the Packers, and the Steelers stood pat to take Heath Miller at No. 30. Whaley says the entire war room was stunned Rodgers was falling as far as he did, and if he had made it that far, the Steelers could have decided to take him.
For Whaley, Rodgers’ fall was not that dissimilar from when Roethlisberger fell to No. 11, where the Steelers picked in 2004. They were stunned he fell that far, too.
“Then when the Browns took (Kellen) Winslow, we all were like, ‘Wait a minute,’” Whaley said. “Seriously, I remember looking around the room saying, ‘Where are the cameras? Is this one of those jokes?’ We couldn’t believe Ben fell to us.”
Rodgers is now 41 years old and will turn 42 during the season. The four-time MVP has stated this is likely his last season in the NFL. As for Rodgers’ fit with the Steelers and his personality, he seems to be enjoying that and cited head coach Mike Tomlin as a critical reason he wanted to play for the Steelers.
“I think there were conversations with other organizations for sure, but again, the rapport that fell in between me and Mike made it to where, as I was going through my personal stuff, there wasn’t any other option for me. It was here, or not play,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers had 28 touchdowns to 11 interceptions in 2024. He went just 5-12 in his starts with the Jets, and even after they acquired Davante Adams, they went just 3-8. It was a tough season for Rodgers, who also had multiple leg injuries.
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