Aaron Rodgers continues to contemplate his future in the NFL, with Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers hoping to count on him for the 2025 season. It’s been a long wait in the Steel City, but the team feels that it could be worth it.
During an appearance on NFL Network‘s “Good Morning Football” on Monday, NFL insider Ian Rapoport explained that Tomlin and the Steelers don’t mind waiting for Rodgers—as long as he ends up playing in Pittsburgh.
“From the Steelers’ perspective, even with OTAs starting relatively soon, even with mandatory minicamp coming, they have no choice but just to wait and they are okay with that, as long as that ends up with Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback,” Rapoport said.
Rodgers still undecided as Steelers enter Phase 3 of the offseason program
With the 2025 NFL Draft and the rookie mincamp behind, the Steelers are preparing for their next phase of this year’s offseason program. On May 27, Tomlin’s team will kick off Organized Team Activities (OTAs), which will last six days. Mike Florio suggested it may be a possible date for Rodgers’ final decision as the deadline looms, but with the 41-year-old, it’s never that easy.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers talks to reporters after training camp at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on July 26, 2023 in Florham Park, New Jersey.
A few days after OTAs, the third phase of the offseason program will conclude with the Steelers‘ three-day mandatory veteran minicamp, to run from June 10 through June 12.
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Though the team would prefer players to attend, these activities are technically voluntary. Therefore, Rodgers could skip them even if he already was under contract. In fact, the quarterback skipped mandatory minicamp with the New York Jets in 2024.
Tomlin suggested training camp could be deadline for Rodgers
Speaking at the NFL annual meetings in April, Tomlin made it clear that Rodgers shouldn’t feel pressured by OTAs to make a decision about his future. Therefore, the Steelers will still be happy to sign him by training camp.
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“In the spring, it’s about teaching and learning and getting familiar with players and making sure they get familiar with some of the things we value,” Tomlin said. “It’s not an evaluation time of the year for us. It’s certainly not a time of the year where we’re readying ourself for game action. Certainly, training camp would be a line of demarcation in terms of that discussion.”
