Art Rooney II expects Aaron Rodgers to give the Pittsburgh Steelers an answer on his future before the draft. However, a recent report from Adam Schefter pushed back on that. That might not be as strict of a deadline as Rooney made it seem. The Steelers are stuck waiting for Rodgers for the second offseason in a row, and Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Cris Carter is frustrated by that.
“You know he wants to play, but he just didn’t want to make up his mind,” Carter said recently on his Fully Loaded podcast. “You need some time away from the game. It’s been a couple months from the Super Bowl. Now’s that time, before the draft, the minicamps… They’re an average team in the league. Aaron Rodgers is like a lot of these quarterbacks when they get to this stage. They’re so, so selfish.
“They never want to be called that, but they’re so selfish, and they’re so self-centered. Aaron Rodgers wants to play. He’s got one place that he can play. That’s in Pittsburgh, the place he played in last year, that happens to have his ex-coach.”
Rodgers said he waited to make a decision last year because he was dealing with personal issues. That made his situation a little easier to understand. However, he hasn’t explained what the holdup is this year. During his most recent public appearance, he only said that he hadn’t received a contract offer yet.
It seems like the Steelers want him back, though. Mike McCarthy has made it no secret that he’d like to reunite with Rodgers. He also said that he’s been in regular communication with the quarterback. That makes it seem like he’s seriously considering playing this season.
Rodgers signed in June last year, so he’s got a few months to beat that date. Still, it would be nice to have him on the team and end the questioning. The Steelers have plenty of other things they could put their attention on, including the upcoming draft. There’s still a chance that Rodgers could retire. That would likely seriously impact the Steelers’ draft plans.
At this point, the two sides need each other. The Steelers don’t have any obvious options under center who are better than Rodgers. Rodgers could wait and see if another team’s starter gets hurt, creating an opening that could be better for him. However, there’s a lot of risk associated with that.
He’s familiar with the Steelers and McCarthy, and he helped Pittsburgh make the playoffs last year. There’s a chance that the team could improve upon that this year.
In for a penny, in for a pound, though. The Steelers are committed to Rodgers. If they didn’t want to wait for him, then they should’ve signed a different veteran quarterback. Instead, the market has dried up, and Rodger is the only dance partner left for them.
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