When Aaron Rodgers returns to the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room, it’ll be like he never left. Despite another prolonged offseason wait for Rodgers to finally provide an answer, one that seems inevitable and soon, the PPG’s Gerry Dulac provided one detail that signaled Rodgers always planned to return.
In an article reiterating 93.7 The Fan’s initial report that Rodgers would meet with Pittsburgh this weekend, Dulac shared this piece of information.
“Rodgers never cleaned out his locker at the team’s South Side practice facility, indicating it was more likely than not he was planning to return,” Dulac wrote.
A small but obvious sign that Rodgers did not plan to retire. It’s all the more revealing knowing that locker room cleanup day happened after Mike Tomlin announced his resignation, long before Mike McCarthy was hired. At the time, Rodgers didn’t even know that he could return to Pittsburgh without learning a brand-new system or scheme, as would have been the case had anyone other than McCarthy gotten the job.
Locker room cleanouts happen quickly. One day, the Steelers are playing for the chance to advance to the Divisional Round. The next, their season ends, their coach resigns, and their offseason begins. But Rodgers doesn’t live in Pittsburgh, nor does he regularly return to visit the city. The fact that he opted to keep his locker intact represented his mindset even as he told reporters he needed to mull over his future.
Why the long wait? That’s for Rodgers to answer once he speaks to the media. But it’s likely because he can. As was the case in 2025, Rodgers hasn’t shown urgency to resolve these situations. He loathes the offseason program, and though he seems poised to sign before May 18’s voluntary sessions, there’s no guarantee he attends them all. Rodgers knew Pittsburgh was willing to wait for him and had no issue enjoying his life untethered from a team and contract for the first few months of the offseason.
But the seemingly inevitable answer is the one most suspected all along. Rodgers is poised to return, with news potentially becoming official within days. Details like Dulac’s nugget, information that would’ve been useful months ago instead of now, confirm those suspicions.
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