To the frustration of many, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ wait on Aaron Rodgers has stretched well into May. However, the Steelers remain confident in their chances to sign Rodgers. If he does make it to practice this summer, Mike Florio thinks Rodgers will play well enough to help his new teammates understand why Pittsburgh waited so long for him to make a decision.
“I think back to 2009 when Brett Favre signed with the Vikings halfway through training camp,” Florio said, speaking with Suzy Shuster and Amy Trask on What The Football on Tuesday. “Brett Favre shows up and starts throwing darts all over the place, and the players understand… And I think the same thing’s gonna happen when Aaron Rodgers shows up, and the Steelers’ players see what he can do. They’ll be like, okay, we understand why you waited as long as you did for this guy to make up his mind.
Florio compares Rodgers’ situation to that of Brett Favre, and there are a lot of similarities between the two. Both spent most of their careers with the Green Bay Packers, and have now both taken their sweet time in free agency later in their careers. Pittsburgh will obviously hope that Rodgers doesn’t take as long as Favre did to make up his mind, though, which happened well into training camp back in 2009, as Florio mentions.
For Rodgers, the next landmark seems to be Organized Team Activities (OTAs). Florio himself predicted that as a time Rodgers could make his decision. However, those OTAs are voluntary, and Rodgers isn’t on the team yet. The first set of OTAs is from May 27-29, and the second period comes the following week, from June 3-5.
If Aaron Rodgers isn’t in the building by then, mandatory minicamp from June 10-12 feels like the next-best landing spot. Some believe that Rodgers dislikes participating in these offseason activities, but that theory may be overblown. Rodgers missed some time with the Jets last summer on a trip to Egypt. But he’s consistently been to these events for most of his career.
However, at this point, it’s clear that Aaron Rodgers is going to take his time. The Steelers have yet to set a firm deadline for him. ESPN’s Brooke Pryor reported that it ‘doesn’t matter’ to Pittsburgh when Rodgers decides to show up.
If they truly feel that way, that’s a risky move from the Steelers. However, things could work out just fine. Rodgers has played in the NFL longer than some Steelers fans have been alive. As he continued to work back from his Achilles injury in 2024, he looked better as the year went on. It’s reasonable to believe that the Steelers could plug him in at any point and have success.
Still, joining a new team can be hard. Aaron Rodgers will have to build chemistry with his offense and the coaching staff. With that in mind, the Steelers obviously would like a decision sooner rather than later. If he does step onto the field, though, Florio is confident any doubts in the building will quickly be put to rest.
