The Pittsburgh Steelers are continuing to pursue free agent QB Aaron Rodgers, and the prevailing thought is that he could sign with the team ahead of its mandatory minicamp, which begins June 10. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport’s personal opinion is that Rodgers signing during or ahead of mandatory minicamp makes the most sense for him, as he said Tuesday on The Pat McAfee Show.
“This time next week when the Steelers are in mandatory minicamp, maybe it changes. That might be interesting. That would be a time when it would make sense for him to go in, sign if he’s gonna sign, get his playbook, go home for the summer,” Rapoport said. “That’s my thought, and that makes the most sense, but it is Aaron Rodgers so I would literally rule nothing out.”
There’s been no real new reporting surrounding Rodgers in a bit. No one knows what he’s going to do, but the safe assumption is he’ll wind up in Pittsburgh. He hinted at it during a podcast appearance ahead of a Mike Stud concert a few weeks ago, and Pittsburgh is also the only team that’s seemingly pursuing him. It would make sense for him to be in the building for mandatory minicamp and at least start to establish a rapport with his receivers and develop chemistry with the offense, but Rodgers has been taking his time and didn’t sign ahead of OTAs.
If Rodgers remains unsigned, then minicamp isn’t mandatory for him. Signing after would mean his first chance to work out in a team setting with the Steelers would be training camp, putting him behind the curve after six OTA sessions and three days of minicamp would have already taken place. That’s why at least getting in the building before minicamp would make sense, but as Rapoport said, anything can happen when it comes to Rodgers.
The Steelers knew that they were playing by Rodgers’ rules when they decided to pursue him, and the team hasn’t given him a deadline to sign as he deals with personal issues that have taken his attention away from football. But at some point, the Steelers need to know if they’re going to have Rodgers as their starting quarterback, and that becomes much more of a question if he remains unsigned through minicamp, so the next week bears watching to see if Aaron Rodgers will put pen to paper.
