Details of the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers relationship show nothing but trust

The Pittsburgh Steelers made waves last week when it was made public Aaron Rodgers would be joining the team on a one-year contract for the 2025 regular season. It put an end to the drawn out saga which started in March, a series of events which had even the most devout Steelers fans wondering what was truly going on behind closed doors.

Fans and media alike were looking at this situation and seeing an ego-driven diva quarterback stringing on a desperate franchise clinging to the hopes of a washed-up player somehow getting them a playoff win.

Everything about it felt off, and many were saying the Steelers were being held hostage as free agent signal callers all signed elsewhere. It felt as if the Steelers were left without a seat in this game of NFL musical chairs.

But the more you dig into the situation, after the fact, you didn’t see any of what was just described.

There were no hostages. No deceitful behavior. No lies being told to anyone.

What was actually going on behind closed doors was the start of a trusting relationship between both parties. In a recent article written by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, he shines a light on what truly went down from the end of the 2024 season, to Rodgers signing just before minicamp of 2025.

Let’s start with how, or more so when, the Steelers started to show interest in Rodgers as a potential option in 2025.

“Rodgers’s name first arose as the Steelers went through initial end-of-season evaluations. Pittsburgh was moving on from Russell Wilson. The Steelers did want to keep working with Justin Fields, but knew if another team was willing to make him the guy, they’d have a hard time keeping him. So they discussed Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Kirk Cousins and Daniel Jones as options.”

The more the Steelers dug into the state of Rodgers game, the more they thought he had plenty left in the tank.

“Their study of Rodgers showed a little more than even they expected. Early in the 2024 season, the Achilles, and a hamstring injury to follow, clearly hampered him. But as time wore on, even with the Jets struggling, the Steelers saw Rodgers returning to form. In the Jets’ Halloween game against the Texans, he made a few big-time back-shoulder throws. He played well in both Dolphins games. In Week 16 against the Jaguars, Pittsburgh saw vintage Rodgers, with a late go-ahead touchdown throw to Davante Adams really standing out.”

Throughout the courting process, Rodgers and the Steelers brass kept in touch, but there weren’t scheduled check-ins or anything like that. They trusted the process.

“There weren’t regularly scheduled check-ins, but Rodgers would call Tomlin and Smith every now and again, which colors why the Steelers were never really concerned that Rodgers would back out on them.”

Through all of this, the Steelers wanted to remain focused on the players on their current roster. As Organized Team Activities (OTAs) pressed on, the Steelers started to prepare for a Rodgers-led offense, but keeping everything in-house.

“Meanwhile, as the offseason program marched on, Tomlin was disciplined in outwardly keeping the focus on the players in the building, and working with Mason Rudolph and, after the draft, Will Howard in the quarterback room. But in the background, Smith and the offensive coaches were doing a deep dive into Rodgers’s past, the same way they did last year with Wilson and Fields, to start to build out the bones of an offense that would highlight Rodgers’s strengths.”

What will the Steelers offense look like with Rodgers at the helm? They want what works best for the future Hall of Famer.

“The offensive coaches would dig out what would work best for Rodgers, while knowing they could dig into some elements from Smith’s time in Atlanta to empower the quarterback to do more at the line, to leverage the aforementioned football IQ of their QB-to-be. A lot of that stuff was on the table last year for Fields and Wilson already, so there’s a foundation there for the whole offensive group to build on as they take it to another level.”

The deal itself was indeed done in March, which made the actual process of Rodgers signing that much easier.

“The Steelers officially got word early last week that Rodgers was coming in to sign his contract at the end of the week, and kept it quiet as the rest of the players worked through three days of OTAs. The parameters of the deal were actually agreed to in mid-March, and all that was left for GM Omar Khan and David Dunn to work through were some structural elements and back-end details.”

There are more details shared by Breer, and the article is linked above, but the way Breer summarizes the entire process shows this relationship was built off trust. Could it have backfired? Absolutely, but it didn’t.

“That so much of this stayed quiet is, in fact, a testament to the trust that the Steelers and Rodgers built over a short time. And now, on Tuesday, it’ll be unveiled for everyone to see. The team told the quarterback he’d get a hungry group that’ll work its tail off for him and follow him, and he’ll finally get to see it firsthand, and vice versa. It’ll happen, too, with expectations, and the spotlight ratcheted up as Pittsburgh gives T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cam Heyward and the rest of its core the best shot at chasing a Lombardi Trophy.”

Will it work out in 2025? Will Rodgers be able to regain his former form? The Steelers are banking on it, but if you were thinking the Steelers and Rodgers are already starting in a toxic space…it doesn’t seem to be the case at all.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for Mandatory Minicamp this week.