Aaron Rodgers became the most prominent player on the NFL’s free-agent quarterback market upon his release from the New York Jets during the 2025 offseason.
Many anticipated Rodgers would quickly find work. The 41-year-old led the Jets to a 5-12 record in his lone full season as a starter for the team, but he still completed 63% of his passes for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Instead, Rodgers has lingered on the market well into free agency. However, it doesn’t appear that’s due to a lack of interest from potential suitors.
Notably, Rodgers has drawn interest from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh’s moves in free agency – deciding not to retain Justin Fields, Russell Wilson and Kyle Allen while adding only Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson at quarterback – seem to indicate they are waiting on the veteran quarterback to make a decision about joining the team.
Where does the Steelers’ courtship of Rodgers currently stand? Here are the latest updates about Pittsburgh and the veteran quarterback.
At the NFL’s annual league meeting Sunday, Mike Tomlin didn’t have much of an update on the Steelers’ possible interest in signing Rodgers, but he said the two parties met recently.
“It was really good to spend some time together, man, and get to know each other more intimately, ” Tomlin said, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “But it is free agency. It is a process. I have nothing of any more significance to add other than that.”
Tomlin didn’t ask Rodgers about his timeline for making a decision about his future during his visit.
“I really wanted to spend more of our time just getting to know him better and things that he values as a player and a man and what he might be looking for with his next stop,” Tomlin explained.
He also told reporters that the Steelers don’t have a deadline in place by which Rodgers needs to make a decision.
“I don’t know that we’ve approached it from a deadline perspective,” Tomlin detailed, per The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo. “Certainly, as I mentioned, you’d like to have settled circumstances. But, you know, deadlines don’t often bring that to a head.”
While Tomlin noted training camp as the “line of demarcation” for having an incomplete quarterback room, Pittsburgh would probably still like to have an answer from Rodgers ahead of the 2025 NFL draft. That could inform when – or if – the Steelers will select one of the top signal-callers in the class.
Even so, that provides Rodgers with at least another month to make his decision about whether to play for the Steelers, pursue other opportunities or head off into retirement.
