Steelers Confident Aaron Rodgers Will Sign Soon

Pittsburgh Steelers owner and president Art Rooney II believes Aaron Rodgers will ultimately join the franchise this offseason.

While attending the annual league meeting in Florida, Rooney said that he keeps “hearing” that Rodgers is “headed in our direction.” In recent weeks, the Steelers have seen both of their quarterbacks from 2024 sign elsewhere. First, Justin Fields — who started the first six games last year — signed a lucrative deal with the New York Jets. Next, veteran Russell Wilson — Pittsburgh’s starter from Week 7 through the playoffs — inked a deal with the New York Giants.

A four-time MVP, Rodgers is coming off a tough season with the Jets. In his first action since tearing his Achilles four snaps into the 2023 season, Rodgers’ mobility was clearly limited. The 41-year-old finished the campaign with 28 TD, 11 INT and 3,897 yards — the Jets went 5-12. Despite remaining a free agent weeks into free agency, the Steelers appear to be confident in their ability to sign the future Hall of Famer.

“We keep getting positive sort of signals about it,” Rooney said Tuesday. “So yeah, I’d say we feel pretty good about it at this point.”

Referring to pictures and videos that showed Rodgers and new wideout DK Metcalf having a throwing session together, Rooney said “I would say it was a good sign that he wanted to do that.”

Pittsburgh has been pursuing Rodgers for more than three weeks and while both Rooney and coach Mike Tomlin are willing to let Rodgers take his time making a decision, both acknowledge the franchise cannot wait forever.

“Not forever, but a little while longer,” Rooney said when asked whether he was content to wait on Rodgers.

On Sunday, Tomlin mentioned training camp representing a “line of demarcation” regarding his team being hampered by not having a QB1 in place.

“In the spring, it’s about teaching and learning and getting familiar with players and making sure they’re getting familiar with some of the things that 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 focused on readying ourselves for the game action.”

When discussing Rodgers’ visit to Pittsburgh’s facility, Tomlin added:

“We had a really productive day,” Tomlin said. “He’s been in this thing a long time. I’ve been in this thing a long time. But there’s no substitute for intimacy and spending time together and getting to know one another in a non-competitive environment. So, that was really good. But I don’t have any new updates in terms of where the process is. We’ll see where it leads us.”