How Steelers reportedly count on Aaron Rodgers saga will finish
For a bit revealed late Sunday evening, ESPN’s Brooke Pryor made observe of the Pittsburgh Steelers “passing on a quarterback 4 instances earlier than lastly deciding on 24-year-old developmental prospect Will Howard out of Ohio State within the sixth spherical” of the 2025 NFL Draft.
She wrote that the transfer recommended that, for people related to the Steelers, equivalent to crew proprietor and president Artwork Rooney II, “(Aaron) Rodgers was very a lot current of their decision-making course of.”
Throughout a Monday morning look on Pittsburgh sports activities radio station 102.5 WDVE, Steelers reporter Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Put up-Gazette supplied an replace on the Rodgers saga which may be nearing its conclusion.
“The Steelers firmly consider that he’ll signal with them,” Dulac mentioned about Rodgers, per Ross McCorkle of Steelers Depot. “It is much less doubtless that he will not be their quarterback.”
Whereas talking on the Steelers’ flagship radio program this previous Friday, Rooney mentioned that “we’re nonetheless form of getting the identical alerts” that Rodgers “does wish to come right here, so I do assume we could get phrase quickly.”
After Pittsburgh drafted Oregon defensive sort out Derrick Harmon at general decide No. 21 this previous Thursday evening, NFL insider Josina Anderson reported that the Steelers “communicated with Aaron Rodgers at first of [last] week that they want to obtain a solution from him” concerning his intentions for the 2025 season “at the least 48 hours” earlier than the beginning of the player-selection course of.
Anderson added that the Steelers knew “the result of that dialog.”
The group handed on drafting a big-name quarterback prospect equivalent to Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart, Louisville’s Tyler Shough and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.
On Friday, ESPN “Unsportsmanlike” co-host and analyst Evan Cohen revealed {that a} dialog with “any individual who’s near Rodgers” left Cohen believing that “it is virtually as if” the longer term Corridor of Famer “needs the Steelers to make a transfer so he would not need to say no to them.” The Athletic’s Zak Keefer subsequently identified that the Steelers misplaced some “leverage” in talks with Rodgers as a result of they presently must begin both longtime backup Mason Rudolph or potential QB3 Skylar Thompson over Howard this coming September.
That mentioned, Josh Kendall of The Athletic famous that the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints ended the draft on observe to begin quarterbacks aside from Rodgers.
Except the Vikings quickly change their minds about turning to 2024 first-round draft decide J.J. McCarthy, it seems the Steelers and Rodgers will want one another if the 41-year-old decides he is not but able to trip off into the sundown of retirement.
