Aaron Rodgers ends months-long
dance with Steelers by agreeing to a 1-year deal
[June 06, 2025]
By WILL GRAVES
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin are taking their
long-simmering bromance to the next level.
The four-time NFL MVP ended months of “Will he? Or won’t he?”
speculation by agreeing to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh
Steelers, pending the 41-year-old passing a physical. Financial
terms of the deal were not announced.
The Steelers and Rodgers had been circling each other for months.
Rodgers even visited the team’s facility in late March, driving in
undercover in a nondescript sedan wearing a hat and sunglasses.
While there were plenty of nice words from both sides in the
aftermath, Rodgers didn’t rush to put pen to paper, telling “The Pat
McAfee Show” in April that his attention was focused on helping
people in his inner circle who were “battling some difficult stuff”
and that he didn’t want to decide until he knew he could fully
commit.
With mandatory minicamp coming next week, Rodgers apparently finds
himself in a place where he can give the Steelers his full
attention.
Rodgers joins a team that has been stuck in a transitional period at
quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season.
Either Rodgers or Mason Rudolph — who returned to Pittsburgh on a
two-year deal in March — will likely be Pittsburgh’s fifth Week 1
quarterback in five seasons.
The Steelers have stayed competitive, up to a point anyway, amid the
constant churn at the most important position on the field.
Pittsburgh has reached the playoffs four times in the last five
seasons, only to be quickly escorted out of the postseason in
lopsided fashion each time.
Justin Fields and Russell Wilson — who combined to lead the Steelers
to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth last season — ended up in New
York. Fields will replace Rodgers with the Jets after agreeing to a
two-year deal. Wilson is heading to the Giants on a one-year
contract.
Those deals left Rodgers and the Steelers without any other
reasonable options. Both sides have their reasons for consummating
what is essentially a marriage of convenience.
Rodgers hopes to author a happier ending to his Hall of Fame career
after two eventful, if underwhelming, seasons with the Jets. While
Rodgers is hardly a long-term solution in Pittsburgh, he is the best
option left after the Steelers chose not to use one of their higher
picks in April’s draft on a quarterback, instead taking a late-round
flyer on former Ohio State star Will Howard.
The union brings Rodgers and Tomlin — the longest-tenured head coach
in major professional North American sports — together after years
of what is the football equivalent of flirting.
They’ve long held each other in high esteem and have enjoyed a
handful of memorable on-field interactions that went viral. Last
fall, they playfully nodded at each other as a sign of respect after
Tomlin was forced to burn a timeout when Rodgers tried a quick snap
that would have ended with the Steelers being penalized for having
too many men on the field.
Pittsburgh is hoping Rodgers has enough left physically to go with a
football IQ that remains elite. He was solid if not spectacular last
season in New York, throwing for 28 touchdowns against 11
interceptions.
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New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) smiles and points during
an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Dec. 8,
2024, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Doug Murray, File)
Yet his play on the field often took a back seat to
the drama off it as the Jets cycled through coaches and limped to a
5-12 record, with Rodgers spending much of his time in New York
defending comments he made on platforms like “The Pat McAfee Show.”
The Steelers are no strangers to drama. If there’s been one constant
since the team’s last Super Bowl appearance — a loss to Rodgers and
the Green Bay Packers in February 2011 — it’s the ability to employ
talented, if mercurial players.
The list runs the gamut, from Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown to
Le’Veon Bell to JuJu Smith-Schuster to George Pickens, traded to
Dallas last month.
Pittsburgh has retooled a bit in the offseason, including acquiring
two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DK Metcalf from Seattle. The
Steelers quickly signed him to a new five-year deal to bring some
stability (and hopefully maturity) to a wide receiver room that’s
lacked both.
The one thing Pittsburgh hadn’t done was do the same at the most
important position on the field. Tomlin and team president Art
Rooney II both kept the door open for Fields and Wilson to return,
only to stand by idly when Fields bolted for the Jets and make no
serious attempt to retain Wilson.
While the Steelers did bring back Rudolph, a season removed from
leading them on an improbable run to the playoffs, he is considered
a backup.
The field of experienced players available eventually winnowed down
to Rodgers.
His arrival is a stopgap, one that Pittsburgh hopes will keep it
competitive until a long-term solution arrives, most likely in the
2026 draft. Until then, Rodgers and the Steelers will try to make
the best of a marriage of convenience of their own making.
___
AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.
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