We are officially one week away from the 2025 NFL Draft.
However, there remains zero clarity on the Steelers’ starting quarterback situation.
On March 21, Aaron Rodgers visited the Steelers’ facility after the Jets released him a week prior. However, nearly a month later, Pittsburgh is still waiting for Rodgers to decide whether he wants to continue playing and sign with the team.
“He’s a free agent as you guys know,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said at the NFL Annual League Meeting last month. “He came to visit and we had a productive day. He has been in this thing a long time, but there’s no substitute for intimacy and getting time together, getting to know one another in a non-competitive environment.
“I don’t have any new updates in terms of where the process is, we’ll see where it leads us.”
Uncertainty at the quarterback position is likely to persist if the Steelers continue to wait on Rodgers. When Tomlin spoke to the media at the annual meetings on March 31, Rodgers had a few options he needed to consider. Since then, more quarterback jobs have been filled. The Giants, who were also interested in Rodgers at one time, signed both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.
The Vikings have publicly backed last year’s first-round pick, J.J. McCarthy, as their starting quarterback for 2025. Yet Rodgers continues to remain silent about his future.
After covering Rodgers for two seasons, I’m not going to pretend I’m in his inner circle nor predict what he might do because the man goes to the beat of his own drum. But it’s clear that if Rodgers wanted to really sign with the Steelers, he would have done it by now.
Pittsburgh begins its offseason program on April 21, and it would be wise for the team to gain some clarity on where Rodgers stands, given that he will have to learn a new playbook, meet new teammates, work with new coaches, and adjust to a new city.
It was once a foregone conclusion that Rodgers would sign with the Steelers after Justin Fields signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Jets. But that is certainly not the case. Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS Sports reported Wednesday night that Rodgers is more likely to retire than sign with a team that isn’t close to winning a Super Bowl.
The problem is that teams close to winning a Super Bowl are not typically looking for a quarterback who will be 42 in December and is coming off a less-than-stellar season. After returning from a season-ending Achilles tear in 2023, Rodgers didn’t play like a four-time NFL MVP in 2024. He threw for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
Rodgers’ play did improve down the stretch, but the Jets still finished 5-12, and he looked most like a quarterback whose best days are behind him. He finished 25th in Total QBR, 30th in completion percentage, and 28th in yards per attempt among qualified passers. The Jets were also 3-7 in one-score games.
Amid a disappointing season, Rodgers told reporters that he needed time to decide if he wanted to return for a 21st season. Just no one knew it would take this long.
“Just a lot of gratitude for the last 20 years and the countless lives I’ve encountered and the amazing teammates and coaches I now call friends,” Rodgers said in January. “Experiences I’ve had, great memories and the amount of great people that impacted my life.
“It’s been a long career, I’m really proud of. What I’ve been a part of and what I’ve accomplished. Also looking forward to a nice mental and physical rest.”
Clearly, there is some doubt about whether Rodgers wants to continue playing. Maybe he is waiting for a better situation that currently doesn’t exist. Perhaps he is holding out hope that the Vikings will change their mind, allowing him to follow the same career path his former teammate, Brett Favre, took after leaving the Jets.
Either way, the Steelers have to be prepared to move on without him. Tomlin and the Steelers are in a peculiar season.
Pittsburgh has made the playoffs six out of the last nine seasons under Tomlin, including last season. However, the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since 2016 and the heat is on Tomlin to correct that.
With Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson in the same division as them, the pressure is on the Steelers to find a solution at quarterback. If Rodgers remains undecided, Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart should be an option for the Steelers.
At 6-2, 225 pounds, Dart possesses excellent arm strength and mobility that NFL scouts love. However, he did not run a pro-style offense at Ole Miss, and often fails to anticipate where his receivers will be, which can lead to trouble with interceptions and poor decisions in the pocket.
The Steelers could also draft Alabama’s Jalen Milroe on Day 2 of the draft. The team had dinner with him last month. Pittsburgh does not have a second-round pick after acquiring wide receiver D.K. Metcalf in a trade with the Seahawks. So they would have to find a way to get back into the second round if they possibly want to draft Milroe.
Tomlin has been on record saying the Steelers are “comfortable” with Mason Rudolph starting at quarterback. But that would be the worst-case scenario for Pittsburgh, which has been looking for a franchise quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired.
The Steelers cannot continue to be held hostage by a quarterback like Rodgers, who can no longer elevate a roster as he did for so many years in Green Bay. The Steelers would be wise to draft a quarterback instead of continuing to wait on Rodgers, who could hang up his cleats after two difficult years with the Jets.
