For the second straight offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers are waiting on Aaron Rodgers well into the month of May. It’s getting tiresome for most Steelers fans, some of whom are upset with the team being so lenient towards a quarterback which they don’t want in the first place.
For analyst Emmanuel Acho, it’s another example of Rodgers trying to avoid necessary offseason work. And he doesn’t think the Steelers are going to be able to win in 2026 if the wait drags out over the next couple of weeks.
“What was the controversy in Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets? Robert Salah canceled the last week of mandatory minicamp, just so Aaron Rodgers can go home. So, Aaron Rodgers is trying to cheat the game of football. He’s like, okay, let me practice as minimally as possible. Let me invest as little as I can in football, and still try to get something out of it. But that just don’t work. You can’t cheat it and win,” Acho said Thursday on his Speakeasy show.
Rodgers and his offseason storylines aren’t a new topic across the league. Back in New York, he earned a lot of criticism for skipping some time during offseason workouts. That was one of the reasons many were pessimistic about him joining the Steelers the first time around, thinking it might set a bad precedent in the locker room.
Last year, Aaron Rodgers ended up signing just before mandatory minicamp. He was there for that, as well as all of training camp. However, there were some miscommunications throughout the year, with Roman Wilson being one example. While Rodgers didn’t miss too much time in general, one could make the argument that him signing earlier could have ironed out some of those issues that popped up later down the road.
That said, it’s unfair to act as if Rodgers just doesn’t want to play football during the offseason. He’s 42-years old, so he obviously doesn’t need that work as much as others. But he did throw with DK Metcalf in Los Angeles early last offseason, a spot he works out at frequently during the spring and summer. And before training camp in 2025, Rodgers hosted several teammates for some private workouts.
There are signs this wait may finally be coming to an end. While he didn’t meet with the team, Rodgers was in Pittsburgh this past weekend. Gerry Dulac reports his agent has been in contact with the Steelers. So the two sides may still be ironing out the financial aspect of things. Rodgers did live in Pittsburgh last season, so him visiting the city isn’t an ironclad sign a deal is on the horizon. But with OTAs fast approaching, it’s hard to figure what else he’d be in town for.
Those OTAs aren’t far away, starting May 18th. If Aaron Rodgers is with the team by then, all seems to be fine. If he’s not, Acho points to it as another example of Rodgers trying to cheat the game.
Recommended for you