The 2025 NFL Draft has come and gone, and Aaron Rodgers is still a free agent. The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t do much in the draft to take themselves out of the running for Rodgers, either. The wait for the former MVP continues. There’s no telling when Rodgers will make a decision, and the Steelers don’t seem to be pressing him too hard. However, Ben Roethlisberger thinks they might have to put a deadline on Rodgers soon.
“At some point, they need to set a deadline,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his podcast, Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger. “Because, at some point, Aaron needs to start learning the offense, get with the guys. What is that cutoff date? I don’t know. Only Coach Tomlin and Mr. Rooney and Omar [Khan] know that.”
A few weeks ago, Tomlin didn’t set any deadline on Rodgers besides training camp, which is still months away. It doesn’t feel like the Steelers can wait that long for him, though. There are other offseason team activities between now and then. There were reports that the team wanted an answer from Rodgers before the draft, but that didn’t happen.
At 41 years old, it might be hard for Rodgers to jump on a moving train in training camp. He needs time to build chemistry with new teammates and learn the Steelers’ offense. He’s incredibly skilled, but joining a new team is a process.
Unfortunately, it sounds like Rodgers is dealing with some serious personal issues. He made it clear that all of his attention is focused there, so he can’t totally commit to football. That’s understandable, and likely part of why the Steelers are being so patient with him. He doesn’t seem to be waiting on a decision for no reason.
On that same episode, Roethlisberger continued talking about Rodgers, wondering if the Steelers should just drop their pursuit of him.
“At some point, you have to say, ‘What’s best for our team is to just probably move on.’ That might sound crazy because it’s Aaron Rodgers. But at some point, you start questioning, does Aaron really wanna play?”
Rodgers made it clear that retirement is still on the table for him. With where he’s at in his career, that makes sense. He’s achieved most major accomplishments, and he’ll easily find himself in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.
However, he also probably doesn’t want to go out on such a sour note. His 2024 season was brutal, with Rodgers not looking like himself for most of it. Towards the end of the year, it looked like his magic was starting to come back, so maybe he still has some gas left in the tank.
Rodgers does seem like the best quarterback option remaining for the Steelers. Without him, it’s tough to see them upgrading over Mason Rudolph. It sounds like Roethlisberger would like to see Rodgers in Pittsburgh, too, but only if his whole heart is in it.
“I respect that man. He’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He is a truly generational talent. I would love to see him go out there and play. I’d love to see him play in the Black and Gold. I’d love to see that ball go down the field, like, I know he can do it. But I don’t wanna see him get beat up and not be the Aaron that we love and that we’ve respected and come to know over all these years.”
That’s likely why Rodgers hasn’t committed to anything yet. He understands that coming back to the NFL half-heartedly will probably only hurt his legacy. It seems like the Steelers are confident that Rodgers will eventually join their team. When that happens remains to be seen. However, the rest of their roster is coming together, so with Rodgers, perhaps the Steelers can field their best team in years.
