ESPN: Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes raging on, QB 'willing to wait' on decision between Steelers, Giants

The Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes is raging on, despite the quarterback’s lengthy in-person meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers. According to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, it could be a while before we find out where he’ll be playing his football in 2025.

“Rodgers met with the Steelers for six hours on Friday. We know that. I will tell you this again, speaking to other people who have their eyes on this Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes, they are not as convinced as the rest of the world that that means that Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers are an inevitability,” Darlington reported, via Get Up. “As one person told me, essentially, nobody knows what Aaron Rodgers is going to do except for him.

“I know we use that cliche a lot of times in these situations, but I’m telling you — these are big time decision makers, one of which told me, ‘Aaron Rogers doesn’t even have a circle at this point when it comes to these decisions,’ so to sit here and say that, you know, the Minnesota thing is less likely than than the Steelers thing, that the Giants are completely out of it. All of those things, I think we should be hesitant to do at this point. … The one thing I do sense? Aaron Rodgers is willing to wait.

“We’ve seen this time and time again. We’re still a month out from the draft. So much can change right now. Do I think that the Pittsburgh Steelers are the leader in the clubhouse, based strictly on the fact that Aaron Rodgers spent six hours of his life in their building? Yes, I do. But I do not for a second suggest that this is by any means over. I still think that Aaron Rogers sweepstakes is alive and well.”

One thing is for sure, the Rodgers situation would make a lot of NFL decision-makers nervous, including former general manager Mike Tannenbaum. He gave his thoughts on the matter, believing the Steelers should pivot to Russell Wilson if Rodgers doesn’t sign with Pittsburgh by Monday.

“I would have a tremendous sense of urgency and nervousness if I was them,” Tannenbaum added. “If Aaron Rodgers was going to be a Steeler, they should not have let him leave the building, period. End of story. So, to me, if he’s not a Steeler, they’ve got to keep looking. They did a great job. They got DK Metcalf on one side, paying him $30 million a year. They got George Pickens. Who’s throwing them the ball? It’s not going to be Mason Rudolph, and they’re sitting there picking No. 21. So, they have to get either Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson. Too many things can happen.

“We saw Teddy Bridgewater inexplicably get hurt with a season-ending injury. What happens if JJ McCarthy, unlikely, but walks the bases loaded in a mini camp, you know? So, I just know from running a team, with 31 other teams out there, if he’s not signed, they have to do something sooner than later.”

Alas, it seems the Steelers are at the mercy of what Aaron Rodgers decides at the moment, while the Giants are wondering what the quarterback will do, as well. Hopefully we’ll have an answer soon on where he’ll play in 2025, but it doesn’t seem to be that simple for the legendary signal-caller.