If not the Pittsburgh Steelers, where?
It's not the first time Aaron Rodgers' future has dominated the NFL headlines, but it rarely reaches this stage of the offseason. As teams prepare for next week's NFL Draft — hosted in Green Bay, of all places — Rodgers finds himself in a corridor of uncertainty.
All signs pointed to Rodgers joining Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. The initial delay seemingly came from Rodgers' interest in the Minnesota Vikings, but even with that dream long gone, he remains unsigned.
The Steelers may draft a quarterback early and have done their homework, but that wouldn't change Rodgers' stance, right? After all, he was happy to head to Minnesota and mentor J.J. McCarthy for a year.
Maybe the four-time MVP still plans to sign with the Steelers and will arrive fashionably late to grab the draft-day spotlight, but it no longer feels like the inevitable outcome it once was.
The latest update raises questions about whether he will play another snap anywhere.
Aaron Rodgers reportedly wants to join a Super Bowl contender or will retire
Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS Sports told 93.7 The Fan that "Rodgers is more likely to retire than sign with a team that's not a Super Bowl contender."
Kinkhabwala added: "Rodgers is not going to play just for the sake of playing."
In response, Steelers insider Andrew Fillipponi said: "That would explain Rodgers putting off the Steelers."
It sure would. Are the Steelers realistic Super Bowl contenders? The answer now is no, but Rodgers has to factor in the impact he could make. Do the Steelers become contenders with a four-time MVP quarterback?
His delay might tell us the answer. Maybe not. Only time will tell.
But we return to the original question: If not the Steelers, where?
If we exclude the Vikings, who have shown little interest in signing Rodgers, the Steelers are the only 2024 playoff team with quarterback uncertainty. Which non-playoff teams searching for quarterback help would become contenders with Rodgers? The New Orleans Saints? Tennessee Titans? Cleveland Browns?
Super Bowl contenders are hardly queuing up to sign him. After all, a major reason those teams are contenders is that they already have a quarterback.
Kinkhabwala notes that Rodgers only wants a Super Bowl contender. The Steelers are the only team with a vacancy that could meet that requirement, and even that might be a stretch.
If not the Steelers, where? In all likelihood, nowhere.
The four-time MVP could be heading for the most awkward retirement imaginable. Forget walking off into the sunset; Rodgers' career is drifting into a darkness retreat.