The Aaron Rodgers decision cycle has lasted so long that older theories are now being recycled and thrust back into the forefront of the conversation. While many thought he was ultimately holding out for the Minnesota Vikings for the first month of free agency, it eventually became clear that the Pittsburgh Steelers are his only option. Colin Cowherd, piggybacking (and misconstruing) a recent report from Jeremy Fowler, now thinks Rodgers’ delay has to do with the Vikings once again.
In typical Cowherd fashion, the argument boils down to his view of the Steelers’ offense.
“The Steelers are a shaky fit, and Aaron knows it,” Cowherd said via The Herd on FS1. “He doesn’t wanna offend Mike Tomlin. It may be, if he wants to play, his best spot. But they can’t figure out offense. I’ve gone over this a million times. They’re tone deaf to offense. I think they’re now making moves just to make moves. I just think Aaron is too smart to think the Steelers are a good fit.”
"Aaron [Rodgers] is too smart to think the Steelers are a good fit."@ColinCowherd addresses reports that Aaron Rodgers is still holding out for the Minnesota Vikings and doesn't want to play for Pittsburgh. pic.twitter.com/fqgEaNHx1D
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) May 26, 2025
Since Ben Roethlisberger retired, the Steelers have finished 23rd, 25th, and 23rd in total offense. Even in Roethlisberger’s last two seasons they were 23rd and 25th. They haven’t even managed to be an average offense over the last five years, and they’ve tried a lot of different things with three different offensive coordinators, a first-round running back, a first-round quarterback and multiple offensive line overhauls over that time.
Rodgers would be the best quarterback they’ve had since Roethlisberger’s elbow injury in 2019, but he would still be fighting an uphill battle on offense for his NFL swan song.
Whatever people may think of Rodgers, he is a football junkie through and through. Ian O’Connor, who wrote a biography on Rodgers, thinks that passion for the game is still there. There is no doubt that Rodgers is aware of the shortcomings of the Steelers’ offense in recent years.
He is probably also aware of the reports that they stripped Russell Wilson of the freedom to check out of plays last season. According to Steelers insider Mark Kaboly, that wouldn’t fly with Rodgers.
On the flipside, there are reasons for optimism. The offensive line has a lot of high draft picks invested in it, and it should be an ascending group overall, DK Metcalf brings a stable WR1 to the offense, and the running back situation has a chance to improve with Kaleb Johnson in the mix.
While Fowler did mention the possibility of Rodgers holding out hope for the Vikings still, it was far from the report that Cowherd seems to be running with. All signs still point to Rodgers signing with the Steelers in the coming days or weeks. If and when he does, that will just be the beginning of the work with a lot of barriers to overcome to make this offense at least an average unit in 2025.
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