Aaron Rodgers has been the talk of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason for good reason. Rodgers is easily the best and only option the Steelers still have at quarterback. The Steelers are also really the only pathway Rodgers has towards being a starter in the NFL this season. And yet, no agreement has become official. ESPN’s Jeff Darlington believes training camp may be the new benchmark for a potential signing.
“I will say this,” Darlington said on NFL Live on Tuesday. “All signs continue to point to him [Aaron Rodgers] eventually joining this team. I say that in part because a lot of the things I’ve heard behind the scenes, but also publicly, and front-facing… It means nothing in terms of minicamp. Perhaps, I think the benchmark we should be looking more towards, still, at this point, is training camp.”
Unfortunately, training camp is simply the next in a long line of potential deadlines for Rodgers. At the beginning of free agency, some speculated that it could take a couple of weeks. Then, April and May rolled around, and OTAs, which are now well underway, seemed like a good time to make things official. Even mandatory minicamp next week makes sense as a deadline. And now, Darlington suggests training camp.
The good news is that because of the way the football calendar is set, there isn’t a possible deadline after training camp. It’s a little more than a month and a half away, but that would be the rest of the wait on Rodgers. By the time training camp rolls around, Aaron Rodgers is either a Steeler or he isn’t.
Obviously, most people don’t want to wait that long. The Steelers themselves don’t want to. Any extra time Rodgers is able to spend at the facility means there’s more opportunity to build chemistry with the rest of his offense. Responding to Darlington’s comments on NFL Live, Tim Hasselbeck thought training camp would still be a fine time for Rodgers to sign.
“Yeah, I think it’s good enough,” Hasselbeck said. “… Is it the best possible scenario? No, it’s not… But it’s just not realistic with someone that’s played as long as Aaron’s played… I do think that, the way Aaron Rodgers has gone about this with Mike Tomlin, at least to me, feels like a shared understanding that he will be there at some point.”
There are two ways to look at this. One has become more popular with Steelers fans, which is the belief that by waiting this long, Aaron Rodgers is sabotaging the potential chemistry he could be building with the rest of the offense. There’s some credibility to that idea. It’s hard to ignore the fact that Rodgers is missing time that could be used to better prepare for the 2025 season.
However, he’s not on the team, and he’s spoken about personal issues earlier this offseason. Even if he was, these are voluntary workouts, and several Steelers under contract have missed them. Rodgers has been in the league for about two decades. Aside from building that rapport with his team, there’s nothing else he needs to learn. And although these workouts are low-intensity, at his age, more rest could be a good thing.
Still, it’s becoming an uncomfortable situation for the Steelers. And if the wait continues, one has to wonder whether they try to proceed in a different direction at the position. The quicker Aaron Rodgers makes a decision, the better for everyone. Unfortunately, that might have to wait for training camp.
Recommended for you