The long wait for Aaron Rodgers to make a decision in regard to the Pittsburgh Steelers and playing during the 2025 NFL season is finally at an end. On Saturday, Rodgers arrived in Pittsburgh to sign a one-year contract with the team. The deal is for $13.5 million, but can be worth as much as $19.5 million with playing time and performance incentives. $10 million is guaranteed.
Indeed, Steelers fans, and NFL fans in general, have been waiting for weeks for the four-time league MVP to make a decision. During this time, it was fairly clear that Pittsburgh was the only team interested in signing the future Pro Football Hall of Famer after his two tumultuous seasons with the New York Jets.
As it turns out, though, signing Rodgers was not the Steelers’ first option entering the offseason. In fact, it was not even their second.
The Pittsburgh Steelers Wanted 2 Other Quarterbacks Before Setting Sites on Aaron Rodgers
Indeed, Rodgers and the Steelers have been linked together for so long that it is easy to remember this long wait as a time that saw each party being the other’s only option. And while Pittsburgh has maintained from the get-go that they were comfortable with Mason Rudolph as their starting quarterback in 2025, new information that has been recently revealed would indicate that was not true.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Steelers actually had two other quarterbacks on their wish list before settling on Rodgers.
ESPN #NFL Insider @AdamSchefter revealed that Aaron Rodgers was the #Steelers ‘third choice’ at QB this offseason. 😳
They preferred re-signing Justin Fields who signed with the #Jets & they explored a trade with the #Rams for Matthew Stafford.
After those pursuits failed, they… pic.twitter.com/21y87lSehO
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) June 6, 2025
“This was the best move that the Pittsburgh Steelers could make right now,” Schefter said of Rodgers signing his contract with the team. “But let’s remember that this was actually the third option for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“They were in on Matthew Stafford, and couldn’t get done a trade. They tried to re-sign Justin Fields. He opted to go to the New York Jets, where he will meet Aaron Rodgers on opening day.
“And after they couldn’t get a trade done for Stafford, and after they couldn’t re-sign Justin Fields, they pivoted to Aaron Rodgers. So, Aaron Rodgers, right now, was their third choice, their best choice right now, but their third choice. And he becomes, right now, the third-best quarterback in the AFC North behind Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow.”
Rodgers is known for finding a way to put a chip on his shoulder in order to motivate himself to play better. Perhaps knowing that he was not his current team’s first choice at quarterback will be another motivating factor for him this year, which very well could be his last in the NFL.
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