Steelers or Vikings? Latest on free agent QB Aaron Rodgers

PALM BEACH, Fla. — To hear Steelers owner Art Rooney II tell it Tuesday morning at the NFL’s annual league meetings, the Pittsburgh Steelers “are hearing” four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers is “headed in our direction.”

“We keep getting positive sort of signals about it,” Rooney said. “So yeah, I’d say we feel pretty good about it at this point.”

But since being released by the New York Jets, Rodgers has also been linked to the Minnesota Vikings, who had conversations with Rodgers last month.

“He happened to be at a point in time in his career where he was free to have some real dialogue about what his future may look like,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said. “And we happened to be one of those teams that he reached out to. And I have had a personal relationship with him going back since my playing days.”

While Rodgers hasn’t publicly tipped his hand about his decision, he visited Pittsburgh on March 21 and spent six hours with Steelers brass and members of the coaching staff.

“It was a really good day,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of the meeting. “Specifically, he and I obviously have known of each other for some time, and so it was really good to spend some time together and get to know each other more intimately. But it is free agency, it is a process.”

Rodgers left Pittsburgh without agreeing to a contract, but a source with direct knowledge of the situation indicated the Steelers felt positively about the possibility of Rodgers landing with them. Since then, the Steelers have remained “engaged” with Rodgers, the source said. Rodgers was also filmed having a throwing session with Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf over the weekend.

As the league’s biggest decision-makers wrapped up their annual meetings Tuesday, however, Rodgers had yet to decide where he will play next season — or if he’ll play at all. Could he pivot off the Steelers and head to his old division rival? Will Tomlin ultimately lure him to the Steel City? Here’s everything we know about where things stand with the coveted quarterback, courtesy of Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor and Vikings reporter Kevin Seifert.

What’s the Steelers’ deadline to get a decision from Rodgers?

Depends on who you ask. The consensus from the Steelers is there’s no drop-dead date by which they need a decision from Rodgers.

So does that mean Rooney is content to keep waiting?

“Well, not forever,” he said, “but a little while longer.”

A little while longer, though, could be quite a few calendar pages.

Though he acknowledged he would like the position to be more settled with the NFL draft less than a month away, Tomlin said roster building is continual. He also added that the quarterback-vetting process hasn’t kept the team from gathering information on this year’s draft class or making other moves in free agency.

“We are weeks or so out now from the draft and so certainly we all like to have settled circumstances, but it is a process — the acquisition of talent, whether it’s at the quarterback position or all positions,” Tomlin said Sunday. “We spent a great bulk of our spring and offseason putting together a 90-man roster and so it is ongoing.”

Tomlin set training camp as a “line of demarcation” where an incomplete quarterback position would hinder team development. — Pryor

What does Rodgers working out with Metcalf mean?

Rooney is counting that as one of those positive signals. Footage posted to social media Monday showed Rodgers working out over the weekend with Steelers receiver Metcalf, whom the team acquired March 9 in a blockbuster trade with the Seattle Seahawks.

“I would say it was a good sign that he wanted to do that,” Rooney said Tuesday.

General manager Omar Khan also said it was a good sign to see Rodgers working out with Metcalf.

“I wasn’t there but that’s good if that did happen, I’d say that,” he said.

Could be something. Could be nothing. With Rodgers, you never know. — Pryor

If not Rodgers, then whom for the Steelers?

Tomlin said he’s “comfortable” with the idea of Mason Rudolph as the team’s starting quarterback, but Khan acknowledged the team still has two quarterback spots to fill so they’re able to go into training camp with their typical four-man position group. Khan said it’s “safe to assume” one of those spots will go to a veteran quarterback.

“All options are on the table through free agency, trade or draft, obviously,” Khan said.

The pool of available free agent quarterbacks and potential trade candidates is limited. Joe Flacco and Carson Wentz are the Steelers’ best options among available free agent quarterbacks, while Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins could be the most realistic trade target. Cousins has a no-trade clause and is due $27.5 million guaranteed this season, and another $10 million roster bonus due in 2026, making him difficult to move.

The quarterback draft class also doesn’t appear especially fruitful, but the Steelers have done their due diligence in meeting with Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Louisville’s Tyler Shough and Texas’ Quinn Ewers, among others. Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart could also be a first-round target, though he is projected to go before the Steelers pick at No. 21. — Pryor

If not the Steelers, then what for Rodgers?

When free agency began, the Steelers and New York Giants were the two teams actively engaged with Rodgers, and the Giants extended a contract offer. The Giants removed themselves from consideration by signing Russell Wilson, who was with the Steelers last season, to a one-year deal days after inking Jameis Winston to a one-year deal.

Should Rodgers end up with the Vikings, he would complete the Brett Favre cycle. After Favre completed his 16-year tenure with the Packers, he went on to play one season for the Jets and two with the Vikings. The Hall of Famer retired in January 2011 at age 41 after 20 years in the NFL. Rodgers, of course, was drafted by the Packers as Favre’s backup. After 18 years in Green Bay, he spent the past two seasons with the Jets.

Beyond those three teams, no other organization has been linked to Rodgers. If he doesn’t opt to sign a deal in Pittsburgh, Rodgers, 41, could consider retirement after his own 20-year career, or he could wait for another team to come calling in the event of an injury. — Pryor

What was the nature of the Vikings’ discussions with Rodgers?

Rodgers reached out directly last month to O’Connell, whom he has known since the two played in the league together in the late 2000s.

“Aaron and I have had a relationship for a long time,” O’Connell said this week. “He initially reached out and we were able to have some conversations. We were on the hunt to always improve our football team and put our football team in the best possible chance to win.

“You’re constantly acknowledging and evaluating all opportunities that may be out there. And certainly that was one that I found to be interesting, just because it speaks to what our place has kind of turned into for quarterbacks, which I know [general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah] and I are very proud of, and our coaching staff is very proud of.”

The Vikings had already made contract offers to veteran Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones, but both signed elsewhere on the assumption that J.J. McCarthy — the No. 10 pick of the 2024 draft, who missed his rookie season due to a torn right meniscus — would soon, if not immediately, ascend to the starting job.

Rodgers and O’Connell spoke multiple times, and O’Connell relayed those conversations to key decision-makers. That prompted several days of discussions about what it would look like to add Rodgers and push back McCarthy’s timetable to the 2026 season. — Seifert

How did they leave it?

The Vikings decided to leave the position open so McCarthy could benefit from maximum reps with the first team once OTAs and minicamp begin.

“We’ve had a quarterback plan in place with J.J. McCarthy,” O’Connell said, “and [we] really like where he’s at in that journey right now, and looking forward to getting the offseason program going with him, in addition to all the work he’s done leading up to that time coming up here in a few weeks. And that’s kind of where we left things.”

Adofo-Mensah said McCarthy opening the season as the starter is “the outcome we want” and “the outcome we’re headed towards.” But he did not completely rule out the possibility that Rodgers could reenter the Vikings’ conversations if he doesn’t sign elsewhere first.

“For me to sit here and say that anything’s 100 percent forever, that’s just not the job,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re responding to scenarios and different information as it comes. So obviously things can change, but right now we’re really happy with our [quarterback] room and we’re going to look to upgrade it in different ways.” — Seifert

Under what scenario would Rodgers become an option for the Vikings?

McCarthy would have to demonstrate overwhelming evidence this spring that he will not be ready to play this season, either because of an injury or a complete reversal of the skills and aptitude he demonstrated during his short time in training camp last summer. Consider Rodgers a break-the-glass option in case of an emergency. Otherwise, the Vikings are committed to their plan of getting McCarthy onto the field for the 2025 season. — Seifert