Buy or Sell: Aaron Rodgers will sign in time for the Steelers’ OTAs, even if he doesn’t participate.
Explanation: While the expectation is Aaron Rodgers will sign with the Steelers at some point, the question remains, insufferably, when? Many speculate that Rodgers will wait to sign, in part because he wants to avoid OTAs. But it’s worth reminding that mandatory minicamp is no more mandatory for a player without a contract than is OTAs. So, if minicamp is any kind of “deadline,” then so are OTAs.
Buy:
Next week is the first opportunity Aaron Rodgers will have to practice with the Steelers. In other words, it’s the first real reason for him to actually sign a contract. Everything else that has taken place up to this point hasn’t really mattered. It’s just the usual offseason fair, nothing that a 41-year-old quarterback needs, from his perspective.
Rodgers has expressed on multiple occasions that his priority hasn’t been on football, but rather his personal affairs. Recently, he acknowledged that people close to him are dealing with cancer — not that a lot of us can’t say the same. We all have problems, but Rodgers is just taking advantage of this rare opportunity.
And I mean taking advantage in a non-pejorative sense. For decades, Rodgers has never been free at this time of year, finally a free agent, not under contract. He used that to, at least in theory, be there for loved ones, which is commendable. But he is resurfacing now, doing interviews, appearing at concerts. He is ready, which even his biographer basically said.
Sell:
Seeing is believing, and so far, we’re only seeing Aaron Rodgers with Joe Rogan. Up to this point, he has looked more natural in that environment than in a Steelers jersey. There is simply no compelling reason to believe he will sign before he “has to.”
And I will remind again that mandatory minicamp is not mandatory for somebody without a contract. Aaron Rodgers can continue to milk this thing all the way to training camp. Mike Tomlin already informally gave him the go-ahead to do that, and Rodgers is the type of person to take a mile for every inch given. Of course he’s not going to be at OTAs, because he doesn’t have to be. If he were going to do things he didn’t have to do, he would already be here.
The Steelers are building toward the 2025 season, following yet another disappointing year. While they reached the playoffs, they once again lost decisively in the first round. They are facing questions, both publicly, and perhaps privately as well. Questions about The Standard, and what the Steelers stand for.
The rookie class of a year ago was successful, but they need to step up into staple starters in 2025. And they need everyone healthy to do it, not an insignificant consideration. They needed a strong influx of talent in both free agency and in the 2025 NFL draft yet again.
These sorts of uncertainties are what we will address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, we will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
