Even for a slow weekend, initial accounts on social media of free-agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers supposedly getting ice cream with multiple Steelers players in Pittsburgh didn’t initially move the needle.
Beyond the basic fact that bullshit is currently ubiquitous on Twitter, it wasn’t entirely clear that it was Rodgers — or that the video posted by @brogey412 was recent (the presence of pumpkin on the menu sparked a side debate as to when the video was taken). Now that multiple members of traditional media are passing it along, it’s worth a mention.
It’s unclear what it all means. There’s been no indication that the Steelers and Rodgers have agreed to terms on a contract. Or that he has visited the Steelers. Or that anything is imminent. It shows only that Rodgers was physically in Pittsburgh as of last night. Which is no different than where he was a week ago.
That said, OTAs start Monday. If Rodgers signs and shows up, he’ll be officially joining the team several weeks before he did a year ago. In 2025, he arrived for the mandatory minicamp that capped the offseason program. If he signs by Monday, he’ll be available for the full slate of OTAs and the mandatory minicamp.
It’s possible Rodgers simply waited until the schedule was released, in order to prevent the league from giving the Steelers a more burdensome schedule of standalone games. Two years ago, the NFL saddled Rodgers and the Jets six early-season prime-time games — and a pair of short weeks — under the rationale that “the Jets kind of owe us one” given Rodgers’s Week 1 torn Achilles tendon in 2023.
As it stands, the Steelers have four night games. That decision possibly presumes they’ll have Rodgers; without him, the Steelers arguably don’t have a quarterback room that is ready for prime-time.
Regardless, Rodgers apparently is still in Pittsburgh. Whether (or perhaps when) he’ll be signing with the Steelers remains to be seen.
