No Firm Deadline for Aaron Rodgers’ Return to Steelers, But Decision Expected in Weeks

The Steelers are giving Aaron Rodgers time and space to sort out his future, according to league sources, as he once again mulls retirement. 

While there is no direct timeline in place between the veteran quarterback and the reigning AFC North champs, there is a strong expectation in league circles that closure comes in the new few weeks.

There are not many key free agents remaining from what was a thin free-agent crop, and some of the remaining intrigue is very much fixated on the quarterback position. 

While Rodgers’s athleticism has waned significantly in recent years and, at age 43, he is a player that will undoubtedly hit the wall late in the season, he did reach the postseason a year ago, the Steelers have few other viable options and he is a fit in their locker room and thrived previously under new coach Mike McCarthy. 

If one were to bet on how this scenario works out, the safe money is probably on a Rodgers reunion in Pittsburgh (according to agents and NFL execs), though it definitely is not going to linger for nearly as long as this situation did a year ago.

How Are Things Shaping Up For Rodgers?

“He either goes back to Pittsburgh,” said an exec from one NFL team who has been looking at potential back-up quarterbacks, “or maybe he tries to get something done with Tom Brady (in Las Vegas), or he hangs it up. He wants to be a starter. It’s down to those two teams… and that’s if the Raiders really him. It’s Pittsburgh or nothing, how I see it.” 

The Steelers did not partake in trying to bring in any of the recently released former highly-paid starting quarterbacks and there is not much on the market now. 

They remain comfortable with Rodgers returning and are not pressing him on the issue whatsoever. Kirk Cousins, barring him finding a new hole, is viewed as a viable option, with the team ideally going with a starter with ample experience accustomed to a new coach/system. 

Cousins has been one of the more prolific passers of his era, though he has not had abundant playoff success. 

Rodgers has failed to advance deep in the playoffs late in his career as well. Neither player will come with the type of cheap $1.3M price tag that Tua Tagovailoa and Kyler Murray came with, especially not this early in the offseason, but Cousins carries far less baggage as well, and Rodgers’s quirky personality is already a known quantity to their front office and coaching staff.