When it comes to this particular time on the NFL’s calendar, ass-kissing is typically all the rage.
As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio pointed out on Monday, the arrival of free agency often means favorable reporting by way of the “symbiotic relationship” between the league’s agents and insiders. Agents give insiders the scoops and the insiders reward them with favorable presentations of such tidbits. And so the game goes.
But while we’ve long become accustomed to the realities of the insider game, that’s also made the reporting regarding Aaron Rodgers’ ongoing free agency stand out even more. After all, it’s hardly typical that the most common coverage of an NFL player’s free agency is some version of “hurry the hell up!”
And yet, that’s seemingly been the overwhelming sentiment regarding Rodgers’ current situation more than a week since the league’s legal tampering period first opened up. Over the course of the past week, multiple insiders, media personalities, and even players on teams recruiting Rodgers have called on him to make his decision, with perhaps the most notable being ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“To me, this shouldn’t be that hard, right?” the ESPN NFL insider said during an appearance on ESPN Milwaukee’s Jen, Gabe & Chewy last week. “Like, the Steelers want you. The Giants want you. We’re seeing players across the league make decisions. It shouldn’t be that hard. Either you want to play or you don’t. You want to play in Pittsburgh or you don’t. You want to play in New York or you don’t. Like, Chewy, what’re you going to have for lunch? You gonna make a decision or are you gonna drag it out for four days, five days, a week? It’s not that hard. Make a decision and live with it.”
Schefter is tired of the Aaron Rodgers waiting game pic.twitter.com/cGcAnl4iLy
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 12, 2025
The Athletic’s Dianna Russini has played Rodgers’ free agency more down the middle, although she did admit on her Scoop City podcast that the situation was getting “bizarre.” Meanwhile, during a discussion regarding Rodgers’ free agency on The Pat McAfee Show last week, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shifted the conversation toward the former All-Pro punter.
“Aaron Rodgers is a friend of the program,” Rapoport said in reference to Rodgers’ weekly appearances on The Pat McAfee Show. “If he’s watching this now, he might be like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna send it to him,’ and then that would really be great for me.”
Rapoport — who admitted he was “eager” for Rodgers to make his decision — might have been half-joking, but his comments could also help illustrate why colleagues like Schefter have no issue taking the kids gloves off for the 4-time MVP. And no, it’s not a COVID thing, as he would likely claim. Rather, it’s the reality that if you were going to set odds for who is going to break the news of Rodgers’ next move, McAfee or the quarterback announcing it himself on the show would be about a -1000 favorite.
Why beat around the bush for a scoop that’s never going to be yours? It’s not like Schefter — or Colin Cowherd, or Cam Heyward — are slamming the former Cal star either. Rather, they just aren’t giving him the same preferential treatment that most NFL free agents seem to get in early-mid March.
It’s also, of course, worth noting that Rodgers has his own history with multiple insiders, having personally called out Schefter and Russini in recent years. Why worry about burning a bridge that’s already been charred? If Schefter or Russini are going to break the news of the former Jets quarterback’s next destination, they presumably believe it will have to come from a team source and not the quarterback himself.
By this point, it’s been well established that Aaron Rodgers is a unique figure in sports, especially when it comes to his relationship with non-McAfee members of the media. And as such, we can probably safely assume that his free agency decision will be announced on PMS, as was the case when he publicly revealed his intentions of joining the Jets in 2023.
And honestly, that’s perfectly fine. Especially if one of the byproducts is actual transparency from those who cover the league, which isn’t always so common this time of year.