With one week until the start of free agency, Aaron Rodgers opted not to provide much clarity on his potential return to the Pittsburgh Steelers during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
McAfee asked him directly, but left him an out to pass on answering. Rodgers took that out, leaving some doubt about his status moving forward.
“Anybody on here who’s expecting me to make some big decision, just turn it off now. Just leave,” Rodgers said, clearly indicating no big announcement on the show. “…I’ve talked to Mike [McCarthy], I’ve talked to Omar [Khan], there’s been no deadline that’s been put in front of me. There’s no contract offer or anything. So there’s nothing that I’m having to debate between. I’m a free agent and, again, I’m enjoying my time with my wife and enjoying this part of the offseason. I think there’s conversations to be had down the line. There hasn’t been any progressive conversations.”
Mike McCarthy made it clear shortly after being hired by the Steelers that the plan was to have Rodgers back for another season. The two went 100-57-1 through the first 14 seasons of Rodgers’ career in Green Bay, including a Super Bowl win over the Steelers in the 2010 season.
When Mike Tomlin called it a career, Rodgers’ departure seemed like a foregone conclusion. A large part of the reason he came to Pittsburgh was to play for Tomlin. But things changed when McCarthy was hired, especially when he brought several of his former Packers assistants with him to Pittsburgh. Rodgers is familiar with several of them, and they retained QB coach Tom Arth, who Rodgers worked with last season with the Steelers.
It wasn’t until June that Rodgers committed to the Steelers last offseason with a very long few months of speculation. This time is expected to be different, but many thought he would announce prior to the start of free agency. He still could, but leaving things open-ended this close to the new league year makes you wonder.
If Rodgers doesn’t return, the Steelers have spent an awful lot of time hyping up Will Howard to the media. That includes direct statements from both McCarthy and Omar Khan.
Maybe the Steelers can enlist Punxsutawney Phil to see if they get one more year of Rodgers. That at least sounds better than months more of the will-he, won’t-he game that happened last year.
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