The Pittsburgh Steelers have banked a lot on Aaron Rodgers being their quarterback in 2025, but the future Hall of Famer still hasn't agreed to wear black and gold. While there is still a chance Rodgers could look to continue his career in Pittsburgh, his potential future teammates are already getting tired of the side show aspect of the Rodgers experience.
In an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero indicated that Steelers' players are getting sick of being asked questions about Rodgers when he hasn't committed to play for them.
"There are people in that locker room who I believe would tell you they’re already over this entire thing," Pelissero said, h/t Sports Illustrated. "They just wanna know what’s going on. And they’re sick of hearing about it, and they’re sick of asking about it. They don’t wanna discuss it anymore."
The Steelers are full participants in the Aaron Rodgers experience
Pelissero also indicated that the Steelers still believe Rodgers is coming, but they do not have a timetable from him on when a decision will actually be coming and have not been told affirmatively by Rodgers if he will actually sign with them. And now, like the rest of the NFL world, some Steelers players have become fed up with the entire Rodgers saga.
After opting to let both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson walk in free agency, the Steelers essentially put all of their eggs in the Rodgers basket for 2025 after punting on the position in the draft. Mason Rudolph is currently in the building and working as the team's starter in voluntary mini camp, but the expectation in Pittsburgh has been that the Steelers would upgrade on Rudolph before the season begins.
There has been speculation that Rodgers is waiting until after the mandatory minicamp period to sign, which would avoid a distraction like he created for the Jets last year during their mandatory minicamp with his trip to Egypt. Not signing has created an entirely separate distraction, however, and Steelers' players have now been forced to answer questions about a player who didn't play for them last year and may never suit up in black and gold.
Rodgers' performance in 2024 was very uneven as his solid overall numbers hid signs of decline. The Jets had plenty of issues last season, which certainly didn't help Rodgers' situation, but he was a contributing factor to the chaos around that organization to the point where the new regime of general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn had no interest in retaining him despite no obvious solution under center.
The fact that Rodgers' potential Steelers' teammates are already getting fed up with him is not a good sign for a group that has a lot of pressure to perform this season. Even if Rodgers decides to show up tomorrow, he will have to do plenty of work to convince the locker room that he is worth the extra attention that follows him wherever he goes.