After a long offseason full of rumors, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers finally came together on a contract. It was a move that had been expected for quite some time, but that had dragged on for long enough to make fans nervous about it not happening.
Early on in the NFL offseason, Rodgers had been connected to a few other teams. Both the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants were among the top potential suitors, with the Los Angeles Rams also being a possible option.
One by one, the other options outside of the Steelers began falling out of the running for Rodgers.
At one point, many thought Rodgers was waiting to see if the Vikings would change their mind about moving forward with J.J. McCarthy. Those rumors sparked a lot of controversy about whether or not Rodgers was actually interested in playing for Pittsburgh.
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With him now being the Steelers’ new starting quarterback, Rodgers spoke out and addressed what really happened this offseason in his talks as a free agent and about signing with Pittsburgh.
“There were conversations with other organizations, for sure,” Rodgers said. “But, again, the rapport that fell in between me and Mike made it to where, as I was going through my personal stuff, there wasn’t any other option for me. It was here or not play.”
Of course, there was some history and backstory that made Rodgers heading to Minnesota more interesting. Brett Favre, his predecessor with the Green Bay Packers, was also traded to the New York Jets following his career with the NFC North franchise. After playing for the Jets, Favre went on to play for the Vikings.
Rodgers has had such a similar career path to Favre that fans wanted to see history repeat itself. Obviously, that didn’t happen.
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During the offseason, Rodgers was open about the personal matters he was dealing with. He wanted to take care of those things first before focusing on football. No one can blame him for that.
He was able to get a deal done with the Steelers in time to participate in mandatory team minicamp. Now, he’ll also be in town and up to speed by the time training camp and preseason action come around.
Since signing with Pittsburgh, Rodgers has seemed to be very happy with his situation. It will be interesting to see how the 2025 season unfolds.
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