PITTSBURGH — Aaron Rodgers and Mike Tomlin are taking their bromance to the next level.
The four-time NFL MVP ended months of speculation by agreeing to a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, pending the 41-year-old passing a physical. Financial terms of the deal were not announced.
The Steelers and Rodgers, 41, had been circling each other for months. Rodgers visited the team’s facility in late March, driving in undercover in a nondescript sedan wearing a hat and sunglasses.
While there were plenty of nice words from both sides in the aftermath, Rodgers didn’t rush to put pen to paper, telling “The Pat McAfee Show” in April that his attention was focused on helping people in his inner circle who were “battling some difficult stuff” and that he didn’t want to decide until he knew he could fully commit.
Mandatory minicamp begins next week. Rodgers and the Steelers play the Chicago Bears in Week 12, visiting Soldier Field on Nov. 23.
Rodgers joins a team that has been stuck in a transitional period at quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season. Either Rodgers or Mason Rudolph — who returned to the Steelers on a two-year deal in March — will likely be their fifth Week 1 quarterback in as many seasons.
The Steelers have stayed competitive amid the constant churn at the most important position on the field. They have reached the playoffs four times in the last five seasons, only to be quickly escorted out of the postseason in lopsided fashion each time.
Justin Fields and Russell Wilson — who combined to lead the Steelers to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth last season — ended up in New York. Fields will replace Rodgers with the Jets after agreeing to a two-year deal. Wilson is heading to the Giants on a one-year contract.
Those deals left Rodgers and the Steelers without any other reasonable options. Both sides have their reasons for consummating what is essentially a marriage of convenience.
Rodgers hopes to author a happier ending to his Hall of Fame career after two eventful yet underwhelming seasons with the Jets. While Rodgers is hardly a long-term solution, he is the best option left after the Steelers chose not to use one of their higher picks in the draft on a quarterback, instead taking a late-round flyer on former Ohio State star Will Howard.
The union brings Rodgers and Tomlin — the longest-tenured head coach in major professional North American sports — together after years of what is the football equivalent of flirting.
They’ve long held each other in high esteem and have enjoyed a handful of memorable on-field interactions that went viral. Last fall, they playfully nodded at each other as a sign of respect after Tomlin was forced to burn a timeout when Rodgers tried a quick snap that would have ended with the Steelers being penalized for having too many men on the field.
The Steelers are hoping Rodgers has enough left physically to go with a football IQ that remains elite. He was solid if not spectacular last season, throwing for 28 touchdowns against 11 interceptions.
Yet his play on the field often took a back seat to the drama off it as the Jets cycled through coaches and limped to a 5-12 record, with Rodgers spending much of his time in New York defending comments he made on platforms such as “The Pat McAfee Show.”
The Steelers are no strangers to drama. If there’s been one constant since the team’s last Super Bowl appearance — a loss to Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in February 2011 — it’s the ability to employ talented, if mercurial players.
The list runs the gamut, from Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown to Le’Veon Bell to JuJu Smith-Schuster to George Pickens, traded to the Dallas Cowboys last month.
The Steelers have retooled a bit in the offseason, including acquiring two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks. The Steelers quickly signed him to a new five-year deal to bring some stability to a wide receiver room that has lacked both.
The one thing they hadn’t done was do the same at the most important position on the field. Tomlin and team President Art Rooney II both kept the door open for Fields and Wilson to return, only to stand by idly when Fields bolted for the Jets and make no serious attempt to retain Wilson.
While the Steelers did bring back Rudolph a season removed from leading them on an improbable run to the playoffs, he is considered a backup.
The field of experienced players available eventually winnowed down to Rodgers.
His arrival is a stopgap, one that the Steelers hope will keep them competitive until a long-term solution arrives, most likely in the 2026 draft. Until then, Rodgers and the Steelers will try to make the best of a less-than-ideal situation of their own making.
AP’s Rob Maaddi contributed.
