12:31pm: Rodgers passed his physical and officially signed his contract with the Steelers on Saturday, according to Rapoport. It’s a one-year deal with a base value of $13.65MM and $10MM in guaranteed money, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Playtime and team performance incentives could boost Rodgers’ earnings to a maximum of $19.5MM.
With the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed, Rodgers is now set to participate in Pittsburgh’s mandatory minicamp next week.
12:01pm: The Steelers’ monthslong pursuit of Aaron Rodgers is all but over. The four-time MVP just has to pass a physical before formally signing in Pittsburgh to take over as the team’s starting quarterback for the 2025 season.
Rodgers’ physical should happen in the coming days, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, likely by the time the Steelers’ minicamp starts on Tuesday, June 9. Rodgers will have three days to familiarize himself with his new teammates, coaches, and playbook before the team breaks for the summer until training camp kicks off in July. According to Rapoport, the Steelers and others familiar with the veteran quarerback’s thinking were expecting this timeline all along.
However, unlike his move to New York, Rodgers doesn’t have an established rapport with his new coaches and teammates. The Jets hired former Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett and signed longtime Rodgers teammate Allen Lazard in anticipation of the veteran quarterback’s arrival in 2023, but Pittsburgh made no such moves this offseason. Rodgers did practice with D.K. Metcalf this offseason, but he has no playing history with Steelers OC Arthur Smith or any of the team’s offensive weapons.
Details of Rodgers’ deal with the Steelers remain unknown. The base salary is expected to be in the $10MM range floated by Rodgers back in April, per Rapoport, with incentives that could reach $20MM at most.
That would be the lowest APY of Rodgers’ career outside of his rookie contract. Rapoport suggested that Rodgers was willing to take an inexpensive deal to help the Steelers bolster their roster around him, but it’s unlikely he could have earned more elsewhere after receiving little interest from other teams this offseason.
The end to the Steelers-Rodgers saga also has implications for other teams, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post. The Vikings briefly flirted with signing Rodgers earlier in the offseason but appeared to close the door on the idea soon after. That door is now locked, solidifying J.J. McCarthy as Minnesota’s unquestioned starter this season. The Steelers were also the last potential trade destination for Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, likely keeping him in Atlanta for another year as Michael Penix‘s backup.
RIP Steelers😢
*gets out ouija board to decide if he will root for Steelers this year*
The steel city appears to be melting! 🫠
Next update: Aaron puts on his uniform
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“monthslong”. I had no idea that was a word. Awesome. Thanks for using it.
Breakdown of Aaron Rodger’s contract incentives:
Incentives Available = Maximum earnings = $19.5M less Base of $13.65M
Total Available Incentives = $5.85M
Broken down as:
Team has a winning record = $.33M
Team makes the playoffs = $.33M
Team wins their division = $.34M
Team wins the first playoff game = $.5M
Team wins second playoff game = $.5M
Team wins the Super Bowl = $1M
AR stays off the injured list = $.85M
AR keeps his mouth shut & doesn’t bellyache to the media = $2M
With the contract signed, Rodgers will now see if he can get injured quicker than Joey Bosa 🙂
It’s amazing to me how much flack this guy gets (primarily because the media doesn’t like him and people take the media’s word as the word of God).
All he has done over his career is put up Hall of Fame stats, play above average QB, win a Super Bowl, and do most of it in Green Bay if all places (not the most QB friendly place to play due to the weather), all with less talent on offense than the majority of the teams in the league. Almost a 5-1 TD to interception ratio for his career (again without the most talented core around him). 63K passing yards and over 500 TD’s thrown.
Lot of teams in this league would like to have a guy like this for $14M on their roster. Dude flat out understands the position, and with a solid defense and a few weapons on offense, I think the Steelers are in a great position on a me year deal to go compete, and I am a Raiders fan. If it weren’t for the Carroll / Geno Smith connection preplanned, I would have loved to have AR on a one year deal at $14M.
I’d like any of you haters to show me any interviews where any players of relevance on a team come out and say he is a locker room cancer. I’ve been searching and can’t find one, other than reporters trying to get click bait on it.
We’ve found Rodgers’ burner account.
You’re an idiot. lol
It did make me laugh though.
You are right, he has had a great career. Unfortunately, time catches up with us all. You have a 41-year-old man playing behind a poor offensive line (29th in pass protection in 2024), with few offensive weapons, an archaic offense and actually performed worse than Russell Wilson did last year.
Could it work? Sure. Will it? I would be surprised.
As far as who he is? It sure would’ve done him and the Steelers wonders to have been in the building earlier to learn the offense and the people he will be playing with/under. Then there was the whole vacation debacle where he decided it would be better to take off than work with his Jets teammates during vital work.