After weeks of rumors and speculation, former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has finally decided on his playing future for the 2025 regular season.
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, Rodgers has informed the Pittsburgh Steelers that he’ll fly to the Steel City on Friday and sign before mandatory minicamp, which begins next week.
Packers fans are likely indifferent about the signing, but this does set the stage for Rodgers to face Green Bay on October 26 in Pittsburgh, which will have a lot of fanfare surrounding that game.
It was only a matter of time before Rodgers decided to join the Steelers. Pittsburgh was the only team without a starting quarterback and didn’t do much in the offseason to address the position.
Now, the 42-year-old quarterback will be joining a Steelers’ squad that went to the playoffs last season, has a solid defense, but a questionable offense.
Pittsburgh acquired former Seattle Seahawks star wide receiver D.K. Metcalf in a trade earlier this offseason, but then traded George Pickens last month. For Rodgers, he’s not unfamiliar with having an unproven wide receiver unit, as he dealt with that in New York.
Rodgers’ first season in New York was a wash due to injury. But in his second season, the Jets’ starting wide receivers were Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, and Mike Williams. Rodgers did not put up gaudy numbers with that unit, which led to the Jets trading for Davante Adams.
The Jets believed that the famed Rodgers-Adams connection, which was electrifying for many years in Green Bay, would work and help them make the playoffs.
Sadly, that did not happen as New York finished with a 5-12 record, despite Rodgers throwing for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
Now he’s going to a team in Pittsburgh, whose second-best wide receiver is Roman Wilson. The Steelers also have Robert Woods, Calvin Austin III, Scotty Miller, and Ben Skowronek. It’s crazy to think that Rodgers could be throwing to that group, given how much he wasn’t a fan of Green Bay’s receivers Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, who were both rookies.
Life comes at you fast, and now Rodgers will try to make things work with a piecemeal receiver unit that is one of the worst in the AFC North.