The Aaron Rodgers saga has dragged into a third week, but with him spending six hours meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday, it may feel as though a resolution is getting closer and Rodgers could end up in Pittsburgh. ESPN NFL insider Jeff Darlington pushed back on that during an appearance on Unsportsmanlike this morning though, believing that both the Giants and the Vikings are still in play for Rodgers.
“There is potential that Aaron Rodgers signs with a team other than the Steelers. The Giants are potentially still a landing spot,” Darlington said. “The Vikings, I would say less so, but still a potential landing spot.
“Meeting for six hours with the Steelers, I understand should lead us to feel like potentially they’re going to end up together. But at the end of the day, did he sign with the Steelers?”
Reportedly, the Steelers have had an offer on the table to Rodgers and the meeting on Friday was just for him to get to know the team’s key decision-makers in person. He reportedly met with Mike Tomlin, Arthur Smith and Omar Khan, as well as Art Rooney II, and spending time in the building and getting to know how the organization operates before signing is an important step. But it doesn’t mean that Rodgers to the Steelers is a done deal, especially with him leaving the building without signing.
Additionally, the Steelers expected Rodgers to have a similar meeting with the Giants, and that would likely happen at some point this week. The meeting on Friday helped push the idea that a deal between Rodgers and the Steelers was close, and while Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said it’s a “safe bet” that Rodgers winds up in Pittsburgh, he shouldn’t be penciled in as QB1 quite yet.
The Steelers may offer Rodgers a better chance to win, but the Giants reportedly are offering more money, and Rodgers would be able to stay in the New York/New Jersey area after spending the last two seasons with the Jets. There are benefits to both places, with Minnesota lurking as as an unlikely third option if the Vikings aren’t happy with what they’re seeing out of J.J. McCarthy during their offseason program.
The meeting with Pittsburgh was promising for the team’s chances to sign Aaron Rodgers, but as long as he remains unsigned, nothing is a done deal, and Darlington made it clear there’s still a real chance that the Giants could land the four-time NFL MVP.
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