Bills CB Taron Johnson Underwent Offseason Shoulder Surgery; TE Dalton Kincaid Played Through Injuries To Both Knees In 2024
Bills nickel corner Taron Johnson recently revealed that he underwent shoulder surgery this offseason. Per Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News, Johnson suffered a torn labrum in Buffalo’s divisional-round win against the Ravens in January, and while he appeared in 94% of the club’s defensive snaps in an AFC Championship Game loss to the Chiefs, he required surgery to repair the damage.
Fortunately, Johnson indicated he will be fully healthy when training camp gets underway next month.
“Feels good, pretty much feels close to normal,” Johnson said. “So, that’s all I can really ask for, being healthy before training camp, so I can fully train and get ready for the season.”
Following a Second Team All-Pro nod in 2023, which begat a three-year, $31MM extension – a then-record for nickelbacks – Johnson took a step back in some respects last year. Thanks to a Week 1 arm injury, Johnson played in only 12 regular season contests in 2024 after enjoying perfect attendance the year prior, and he finished as Pro Football Focus’ 84th-best corner out of 116 qualified players (after grading out as the 18th-best CB out of 127 qualifiers in ‘23).
On the other hand, Pro Football Reference credited him with a modest 80.3 quarterback rating on passes thrown in his direction last season – albeit on a career-worst 70.4% completion percentage – and he tallied two picks for the first time in his career. Irrespective of his surface-level statistics or advanced metrics, Buffalo will once again be relying on the soon-to-be 29-year-old to serve as a key cog in its secondary. He is the second-longest-tenured member of the Bills’ defense, behind only linebacker Matt Milano.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid has also had to focus on his health this offseason. Kincaid, a 2023 first-round pick, enjoyed a strong rookie campaign, posting 73 catches for 673 yards and two scores. He regressed in Year 2, appearing in three fewer games and catching 44 balls for 448 yards and two TDs.
Kincaid, 25, told Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News that he played through injuries to both of his knees last season. Unlike Johnson, he did not need to go under the knife, though he conceded the recovery process took longer than expected.
The Utah product said he dealt with a PCL injury to his left knee and a Morel-Lavallee lesion, which manifested in bursitis, in his right knee. Both head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane told Kincaid he would need to improve his strength this offseason, and Kincaid said he has made a concerted effort to do just that (including increased work with strength and conditioning coach Will Greenberg).
The Bills continue to roster fellow TE Dawson Knox and selected Jackson Hawes in the fifth round of this year’s draft, but Kincaid is expected to lead the way as Josh Allen’s top receiving threat at the tight end position. He will be extension-eligible for the first time after the 2025 season, so he has the opportunity to set himself up nicely for a lucrative second contract.
Cowboys’ QB2 Job Unsettled; Joe Milton, Will Grier Likely To Make 53-Man Roster
Will Grier has not thrown a regular season pass since 2019, his first year in the NFL. He is, however, expected to make the Cowboys’ 53-man roster, per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.
The Cowboys’ cap crunch rendered them unable to re-sign backup QB Cooper Rush, who started eight games in 2024 in relief of an injured Dak Prescott and who signed a two-year deal worth up to $12.2MM with the Ravens in March. At the time, it was believed Dallas would select a signal-caller in April’s draft and have that player compete with Grier to serve as Prescott’s backup in 2025.
Instead, the Cowboys acquired Joe Milton in a pre-draft trade with the Patriots, who had made Milton a sixth-round choice in 2024. The former Tennessee standout flashed in New England’s regular season finale against the Bills, and he reportedly wanted to be dealt to a team that would allow him to compete for a starting gig.
Obviously, the Cowboys’ starting quarterback position is already spoken for, but given Milton’s youth (he just turned 25 in March) and apparent upside, he would seemingly be the frontrunner for the QB2 post in 2025 (as our Ben Levine recently suggested). However, Watkins says that is not necessarily set in stone, and he indicates it is still unclear whether Milton or Grier will be tapped as Rush’s replacement.
Despite his lack of playing time, Grier has shown enough to stick on NFL rosters or practice squads since he entered the league as a third-round pick of the Panthers in 2019. That includes a two-year run with the Cowboys as a backup/third-stringer/practice squad player from 2021-22. Dallas cut him after acquiring Trey Lance via trade in August 2023, and he ultimately split the 2023 campaign between the Bengals, Patriots, and Chargers.
He reunited with former Cowboys OC Kellen Moore by signing a one-year contract with the Eagles in March 2024, but he did not crack Philadelphia’s 53-man roster. He was retained via a taxi squad deal before a November release, and he reunited with the Cowboys shortly thereafter. He then re-signed with Dallas on a one-year pact shortly after the 2024 season ended.
Now 30, Grier’s chances of becoming a regular starter in the NFL are quite slim. Milton, on the other hand, is entering the second year of his rookie contract and could still forge a path as a QB1 somewhere. Although they did not surrender much to acquire him, the Cowboys clearly saw enough in Milton to swing a trade for him. He will nonetheless have to earn backup duties.
One way or another, it seems both players will join Prescott in Dallas’ 2025 quarterbacks room.
Extension Talks Between Jets, WR Garrett Wilson Underway; CB Sauce Gardner Aiming For Record-Setting Deal
An April report indicated the Jets would explore extensions for 2022 first-rounders Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson (along with 2021 first-round choice Alijah Vera-Tucker) after the 2025 draft. Now that the draft is over, it is fair to expect those talks to get underway.
As for Wilson, ESPN’s Rich Cimini says negotiations are in the early stages, and he anticipates the discussions will become more involved in training camp. Prior reports noted it may be difficult for the parties to agree on the appropriate compensation for the wide receiver, because while he has put up strong numbers (three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons), his surface-level statistics would not seem to make him a candidate for a top-of-the-market accord.
On the other hand, Wilson’s talent is undeniable, and he has managed his production with poor-to-mediocre quarterback play. As such, Cimini believes the Ohio State product will be looking for a $30MM/year deal, which would effectively place him in a four-way tie with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyreek Hill, and Brandon Aiyuk for sixth place on the WR market (the average annual value on St. Brown’s contract is $30.0025MM).
Perceived tension with former QB Aaron Rodgers and a role impacted by 2024 trade acquisition Davante Adams seemed to put Wilson’s New York future in doubt not too long ago. However, Rodgers and Adams are gone, and Wilson recently expressed his desire to remain with the Jets for the rest of his career.
Gardner has echoed those sentiments, and Cimini confirms the two-time First Team All-Pro cornerback is, like his 2022 draftmate, looking to hit or exceed the $30MM/year threshold. In the case of the CB market, though, that AAV would make Gardner the highest-paid player at his position.
Cimini does not indicate whether Gardner negotiations have begun in earnest, but previous reports suggested talks with the 24-year-old defender are not expected to be as challenging as those with Wilson. Derek Stingley Jr. ’s three-year, $90MM pact with the Texans (featuring roughly $48MM in full guarantees) presently tops the cornerback hierarchy, and despite a regression last season, player and team understand Gardner will command at least that much (Cimini predictably confirms Gardner is using Stingley’s deal as his benchmark in extension discussions).
The Jets made the easy decision to exercise the fifth-year options for both players, and the fact that Gardner has earned two Pro Bowl berths in his young career placed him in the top bracket for such options. The transaction puts him in line for a fully-guaranteed $20.19MM salary in 2026, though it would not be surprising to see a record-setting contract in place well before then (especially given the importance of a true CB1 in new head coach Aaron Glenn’s man-heavy scheme). Wilson, meanwhile, has locked in a $16.82MM salary for 2025.
As Cimini observes, the Jets will be near the top of the league in cap space on June 2, when Rodgers and C.J. Mosley – both released with post-June 1 designations earlier this offseason – officially come off the books. Those moves will free up $22.8MM of room, so there will be plenty of financial flexibility to get deals done with Gardner and Wilson (and perhaps Vera-Tucker as well).
Lions’ John Morton Hire, Kelvin Sheppard Promotion Driven By Continuity Concerns
After three consecutive winning seasons and two straight NFC North titles, and after coming heart-wrenchingly close to a Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2023 campaign, the Lions have had to come to grips with the reality that other successful franchises face: a brain drain. On the heels of its 15-2 showing in 2024, Detroit lost offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, as both men accepted head coaching gigs elsewhere.
However, the Lions did not search far and wide to replace them (as our 2025 coordinator tracker shows). With respect to the OC post, there were no publicly-reported interviews other than the one for John Morton, and new DC Kelvin Sheppard’s only competition for his job prior to his promotion was Buccaneers inside linebackers coach Larry Foote.
As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press confirms, that was by design. Although it would be reductive to say that Morton and Sheppard landed their positions solely due to continuity concerns, Birkett says continuity was certainly a major factor.
Morton, 55, worked as the Lions’ senior offensive assistant in 2022, which was Dan Campbell’s second season as the club’s head coach and Johnson’s first as the offensive coordinator. Birkett noted in a human interest piece on Morton earlier this year that Campbell wanted to replace Johnson with someone who would retain much of the outgoing play-caller’s terminology and playbook, and that is what he will get in Morton.
After the 2022 season, Morton left Detroit to join Sean Payton’s first staff with the Broncos. The success that rookie passer Bo Nix enjoyed in Denver in 2024 helped Morton rebuild his OC stock, and the upcoming season will mark his second attempt at the position (he was the Jets’ offensive coordinator in 2017, when the team was quarterbacked primarily by Josh McCown). In addition to his familiarity with Johnson’s scheme, Morton will inherit a roster that returns its core group of high-end skill-position players and O-linemen. Birkett believes Morton will call for more downfield throws than his predecessor, but the offense should otherwise look quite similar.
Sheppard, 37, enjoyed an eight-year playing career, and he has quickly risen up the coaching ladder since becoming a part of Campbell’s first Lions staff in 2021 as the team’s outside linebackers coach. He has earned praise for helping revive the careers of veterans like Alex Anzalone and helping guide young draft picks like Jack Campbell and Malcolm Rodriguez, and his reputation as a rising star in the coaching world extended beyond Michigan.
While Birkett says Sheppard (a former linebacker) sees defense through a different “prism” than Glenn (a former defensive back), Sheppard will, like Morton, inherit a strong collection of returning players, including the likes of Anzalone, Jack Campbell, Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Brian Branch, and Kerby Joseph. The Lions finished in the bottom half of the league in terms of total defense in 2024, but they allowed the seventh-fewest points per game.
Eagles TE Dallas Goedert Never Sought Trade
Earlier this offseason, TE Dallas Goedert’s future with the Eagles was very much in doubt, and it was reported he would have to take a pay cut to avoid being traded or released. As PHLY’s Zach Berman writes, Goedert never requested a trade to avoid a reduction in 2025 pay and/or to find a team willing to authorize a new contract for him.
Instead, the 30-year-old seemingly realized he would have to take a cut, and he put forth a number he was comfortable with. Ultimately, he agreed to accept $10MM in 2025, with a chance to earn up to an additional $1MM in incentives. He was previously scheduled to take home $14.25MM.
Prior to April’s draft, Philadelphia was believed to be shopping Goedert, and trade offers did emerge. The fact that the Eagles were reportedly willing to accept 2026 draft compensation for their TE1 suggested a trade was a real possibility, but clearly a deal never materialized. The club did not select a tight end in the draft, and talks about a reworked pact accelerated thereafter.
From a purely on-field perspective, it never made much sense for the reigning Super Bowl champions to part ways with one of their better offensive players. The lack of high-end additions to the TE depth chart in free agency or the draft made it clear that, despite the trade chatter, Philadelphia was always amenable to retaining Goedert at a reduced rate, and the player likewise preferred to remain with the team that made him a second-round pick in 2018.
The pay cut did not change the term of the contract, so Goedert remains eligible for free agency in 2026. He has battled injuries in recent seasons, and he played a career-low 10 regular season games in 2024 (though he did lead the Eagles with 215 receiving yards during the team’s Super Bowl run). George Kittle recently proved that a tight end on the wrong side of 30 can still land a top-of-the-market contract, and a strong, healthy season from Goedert will give him a good case for another lucrative deal of his own.
The Eagles focused on the defensive side of the ball in the draft, and the offseason addition of Terrace Marshall notwithstanding, it appears Goedert will retain his status as one of QB Jalen Hurts’ top-three receiving options, behind wideouts A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. His blocking contributions in support of running back Saquon Barkley likely played a role in the team’s decision to keep him on the roster as well.
49ers’ Brock Purdy Sought $65MM/Year Deal; No Trade Interest In QB
The 49ers and quarterback Brock Purdy recently agreed to an extension that moves the former seventh-rounder near the top of the quarterback market in terms of average annual value ($53MM) but still outside the top five earners at his position. Cowboys passer Dak Prescott still leads the way with a $60MM AAV, and when negotiations between San Francisco and its own signal-caller commenced, Purdy tried to shatter Prescott’s number.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, in an appearance on UNSPORTSMANLIKE Radio, Purdy sought a yearly payout of $65MM at the outset of contract talks (via David Bonilla of 49ersWebZone.com).
“Yes, that was his initial asking price, 65 [million],” Schefter said. “But you know what? Everybody’s initial asking price should be high. That’s how it should be, and his was. I don’t know that he thought he was going to get that, but you might as well start high. Nothing abnormal or unusual about that at all.”
Given Purdy’s regression in 2024 and the fact that rival clubs have been rumored to view his surprising success largely as a function of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s system, it was always unlikely he would approach his $65MM/year overture. However, contrary to prior suggestions that an overly-ambitious ask could throw a wrench in negotiations, it seems that was not the case.
Club brass never wavered on its long-held goal of finalizing an extension for Purdy, and after conversations got underway in February – Purdy was not eligible for a new contract until this offseason – there was no whisper of a hiccup or any other development that would delay an agreement. Rather, all public reports published after that date indicated the two sides were making good progress, and that progress culminated in a five-year, $265MM accord on May 16.
It thus appears that neither player nor team ever injected the notion of a trade into these proceedings, and Schefter confirms as much.
“I remember talking to teams, and just being like, ‘Hey,’ as they were trying to solve their quarterback needs, ‘any interest in Brock Purdy?'” Schefter said. “And they were like, ‘Great player, but he’s a great player for them.’ So they didn’t see it that way. So that was the opinion of other teams.”
Schefter’s statement does seem to validate the above-referenced belief that other teams see Purdy as a Shanahan product who would not do as well in a different offense. Perhaps aware of that reality, Purdy & Co. came down quite a bit from their initial proposal and ultimately “settled” for a contract well below their $65MM shot across the bow (the deal does come with a no-trade clause and favorable short-term cash flow, though the new money figures become more team-friendly in the second year of the extension term).
With his contract situation now resolved, Purdy and the Niners will attempt to regroup from a significant departure of talent this offseason – which was triggered in no small part by the QB’s impending big-money deal – and launch a bounceback 2025 campaign.
Lions Unlikely To Pursue Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson
As the Bengals-Trey Hendrickson contract impasse drags on, the possibility of a trade looms over the situation. The Lions, despite recent interest in elite EDGE players like Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby, do not appear to be a Hendrickson suitor.
Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press says a pursuit of the 2024 sack leader would run counter to the Lions’ current operation. After all, Detroit is in the midst of negotiations with its own standout pass rusher, Aidan Hutchinson, and those discussions may well culminate in an extension that catapults Hutchinson to the top of the EDGE market (currently paced by Garrett’s $40MM average annual value).
It would therefore be quite difficult for the Lions to surrender notable draft capital to complete a Hendrickson trade – even if Cincinnati relaxes its demand of a first-round pick plus more – and then authorize a contract near the top of the market for a second defensive end. Hendrickson’s age (30) will likely prevent him from reaching the $40MM/year club, but as Birkett suggests, a $35MM AAV is not out of the question.
Plus, the Lions have other contractual matters to resolve. While Hutchinson is presumably at the top of GM Brad Holmes’ agenda at the moment, Birkett says the club is looking ahead to a second deal for running back Jahmyr Gibbs – who will be eligible for a new contract at the end of the 2025 season – and other internal cornerstones. While Birkett does not expressly say so, it could be that Gibbs’ 2023 draftmates like Jack Campbell, Sam LaPorta, and Brian Branch are already on Holmes’ extension radar (Holmes finalized a record-setting extension for safety Kerby Joseph just a few weeks ago).
Of course, the prospect of pairing Hutchinson with Hendrickson is a tempting one. Hendrickson has earned Pro Bowl acclaim in each of his four seasons with the Bengals, and he has recorded 17.5 sacks in both of the past two seasons (his 2024 showing led to his first First Team All-Pro bid and placed him second in Defensive Player of the Year balloting). Hutchinson, who will turn 25 in August, averaged 10 sacks per season over his first two NFL campaigns and hit 7.5 sacks in just five contests in 2024 before suffering a season-ending leg injury.
It was that injury that led to Detroit’s in-season trade interest in Garrett and Crosby. After the team was rebuffed in those pursuits, it pivoted to Za’Darius Smith, and with Hutchinson ready to go for 2025, Birkett says the team will seek a complementary piece rather than a marquee addition.
Smith, who was released in a cost-cutting move in March, still profiles as a logical candidate to return. Holmes said last month he had not spoken with Smith’s camp since the release, but those comments were made before the 2025 draft. Now that the draft is in the books and clubs have a better idea of their roster needs, the two sides could circle back to each other. DeMarcus Walker, who visited Detroit in April, also remains unsigned, as does Von Miller.
The Lions re-signed DE Marcus Davenport this offseason after his first year in the Motor City was cut short by an elbow injury. As of the time of this writing, Davenport is penciled in as Hutchinson’s bookend on Detroit’s defensive front.
Saints’ Taysom Hill, Foster Moreau Out Until At Least Training Camp
Saints do-it-all weapon Taysom Hill and true tight end Foster Moreau suffered significant injuries in the latter stages of the 2024 season, which was a fitting end to a generally miserable year. It appears they are on the mend, but as Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports, neither of them will return to practice until training camp at the earliest.
It is worth noting that Underhill does not say whether Hill and Moreau are aiming for the start of camp in late July or if they will return on some later date. Both players are entering platform campaigns, so their future earning power will be impacted to a large extent by their health and productivity in 2025.
Hill, who is going into his age-35 season, was in line to build on the career-high 114 combined receiving and rushing touches he totaled in 2023. Last year, Klint Kubiak’s first (and only) season as the Saints’ offensive coordinator, it was reported that Hill could see more opportunities in the running game while still serving as an ancillary receiving option.
Unfortunately, the BYU product missed a handful of contests early on in the 2024 season due to a chest injury and fractured ribs, and he then sustained a torn ACL in Week 13. Given the usual timeline for ACL injuries, it would not be surprising if Hill were to miss the start of the 2025 regular season.
When he is healthy enough to return, it is unclear how new head coach Kellen Moore and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier plan to deploy Hill. Even without the ACL injury, it is unlikely the college quarterback – who does have a 7-2 record as a starting signal-caller in the pros but who has not thrown any passes except in special packages since 2021 – would have factored into New Orleans’ upcoming QB competition.
The Saints re-upped tight end Juwan Johnson on a lucrative three-year contract in March, thus cementing him the club’s TE1. Moreau will therefore have to again compete with Johnson (and Hill) for targets whenever he returns to the field.
Now 28, the former fourth-round pick of the Raiders started all 17 games for the Saints last year, his second season in New Orleans. He tied a career-high with five TDs, and his 32 catches and 413 receiving yards came up just shy of tying the personal-best marks he set with Las Vegas in 2022.
Moreau suffered a knee injury during the Saints’ season finale in 2024 and had to be carted off the field. Again, it is uncertain exactly when Moreau will be medically cleared, though he is of course hopeful it will be before the start of the regular season.
“The knee is doing great, and I’d have to say we are ahead of schedule,” Moreau recently said (via Rod Walker of NOLA.com). “I’d be pretty happy with a timeline that gets me back in either one of those spots (meaning before the start of training camp or the start of the regular season).”
Given Moore’s history of featuring tight ends in his offense, Moreau – who signed a three-year, $12MM pact with the Saints in 2023 – could position himself for another multiyear accord next offseason if he can return to full health sooner rather than later.
Jets’ Josh Myers, Joe Tippmann To Compete For Starting C Job
Josh Myers cracked our list of 2025’s Top 50 Free Agents (he checked in at No. 41), and his run as the Packers’ starting center seemingly positioned him well for a notable contract this offseason. However, it seems the league-wide perception of Myers mirrors the subpar Pro Football Focus grades he has earned over his four-year pro career, and he ultimately settled for a one-year, $2MM deal with the Jets.
Meanwhile, New York’s incumbent center, Joe Tippmann, graded out as PFF’s seventh-best pivot in 2024, which was just his second year in the league. The Jets made him a second-round pick the year prior, and given his draft pedigree and strong sophomore showing, it initially appeared Myers would have to accept a backup role with his new club.
While that still may be the case, it is apparently not a sure thing. The Jets have a new regime in place, a regime that signed Myers but did not draft Tippmann, and as ESPN’s Rich Cimini relays, first-year GM Darren Mougey said in March that Myers is “going to compete to push Tippmann.”
That competition is indeed taking place, with presumptive left guard John Simpson saying Myers and Tippmann are “battling their asses off right now.” Gang Green wrapped its first set of OTAs last week and is set to begin its next series on Wednesday.
Of course, this could be a simple matter of a rookie GM and head coach (Aaron Glenn) attempting to rebuild the Jets’ culture and making sure all of their players truly earn their jobs. On the other hand, as Cimini notes, Myers’ 56 career starts are the most among any player on New York’s O-line at the moment, and with a 2024 first-rounder (Olu Fashanu, who started seven games in his rookie year) and a 2025 rookie (Armand Membou) poised to start at the tackle positions, there is some logic to having a more experienced center.
In theory, Tippmann – who played some right guard in his rookie campaign in 2023 – could shift to one of the guard positions to make room for Myers. However, 2021 first-rounder and extension candidate Alijah Vera-Tucker appears entrenched at right guard for the long haul, leaving Simpson’s LG post as the only other interior position that could be up for grabs.
But Simpson turned in a strong debut effort for the Jets in 2024, starting all 17 contests and earning a 77.3 overall PFF grade that placed him 16th among guards. That was something of a surprising showing given his more pedestrian performances with the Raiders and Ravens in prior years, so one wonders if the Tippmann-Myers battle could ultimately have an impact on Simpson’s status.
That is merely speculation, as Cimini’s report only suggests Tippmann and Myers are fighting for the starting center spot. The ESPN scribe certainly believes there is more than just GM- or coach-speak at play here, as he characterizes the positional competition as one to watch.
Aaron Rodgers To Sign With Steelers By End Of May?
It has long seemed like a foregone conclusion that, assuming Aaron Rodgers chooses to play in 2025, he will suit up for the Steelers. A report from earlier this week indicated Pittsburgh was still optimistic it would get a deal done with the future Hall of Famer, and signs continue to point in that direction.
Rodgers’ biographer, Ian O’Connor, recently appeared on 93.7 The Fan’s The PM Team and predicted the 41-year-old would put pen to paper by the end of May (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). Although he declined to disclose the personal issues that Rodgers himself has cited for his delay in signing with a club, O’Connor does not believe those issues – which pertain to a member of Rodgers’ inner circle – would preclude him from playing football.
Florio previously expressed his belief, supported by a source who knows Rodgers but who has no specific knowledge of the current situation, that the eccentric signal-caller may have wanted to avoid being a distraction by signing a contract with the Steelers but remaining away from the team for the early stages of the club’s offseason program as he sorts out his personal matter. Of course, given Rodgers’ status and the coverage that constantly surrounds him, the fact that he has not signed a contract at all is its own form of distraction. Still, it is fair to conclude that officially joining Pittsburgh and not reporting during the first phases of the offseason – which Rodgers has openly opposed anyway – would have invited even more scrutiny.
“I just think verbally, behind the scenes, not that he guaranteed it, but he’s told [the Steelers], ‘Listen, I’m gonna play for you. I just don’t want to go there and then miss part of mandatory minicamp because of my personal issues. I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be solved by the end of May, at least in my satisfaction where I can give you my all,'” O’Connor said (via Ross McCorkle of SteelersDepot.com).
Florio believes O’Connor was referring to the offseason program in general and not mandatory minicamp specifically, as mandatory minicamp does not take place until June 10. Florio also believes there is a good chance Rodgers will have signed with Pittsburgh by next week, as OTAs get underway on May 27.
Outside of the quarterback position, the Steelers have a playoff-worthy roster and did not select a signal-caller in this year’s draft until they added Ohio State’s Will Howard in the sixth round. As such, the runway is very much clear for Rodgers to come aboard and supplant Mason Rudolph as Pittsburgh’s QB1.
O’Connor, who interviewed 250 people for his book Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers, believes Pittsburgh is the “perfect place” for Rodgers to finish his playing career.
“It may be me as an optimist, but I think this is gonna work out,” O’Connor said. “Do I think the Steelers will win the Super Bowl next year? No. But if you told me 11-6 with at least one playoff victory … I think that’s realistic.”
Rodgers has never been linked in any meaningful way to the Saints this offseason, and that did not change after it became clear Derek Carr would retire, per NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan. New Orleans will conduct an open competition between second-round rookie Tyler Shough and holdovers Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener as it seeks its starting quarterback for 2025.