While the Steelers brass came to a consensus decision to sign Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin “led the charge” to acquire the future Hall of Fame quarterback and four-time league MVP, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
During a recent SportsCenter appearance, Fowler said that Tomlin and Rodgers had “several meaningful conversations over recent weeks and months to hash all this out.” Fowler added that things began to intensify inside the Steelers facility on Thursday morning, hours before news broke that Rodgers was indeed signing a one-year deal with Pittsburgh.
Thursday morning also brought a sense of relief inside the team building. While the Steelers still believed up that point that he would sign with them, Rodgers had not affirmatively told the team that he was in fact going to join them for the 2025 season. But after three months of speculation, Rodgers did in fact decide to continue his career — his 21st in the NFL — with the Steelers and Tomlin, who has never had a losing season during his time in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers are also reportedly pleased with Rodgers’ fitness level. While it’s been no secret that Rodgers has been dealing with personal issues (which is the main reason why it took so long for him to sign with Pittsburgh), he still apparently made time this offseason to work out in preparation for the upcoming season. Rodgers has also apparently recovered from some of the nagging injuries that plagued him during his final season with the Jets.
While he missed OTAs, Rodgers did sign soon enough to take part in Pittsburgh’s mandatory minicamp, which will start on Tuesday. Rodgers will then have an additional six weeks to work with his new teammates before the Steelers begin training camp.
As far as Tomlin’s pursuit of Rodgers, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the Steelers’ longtime coach wanted him. Along with the two having a mutual respect for each other, Tomlin’s pursuit of Rodgers isn’t surprising given his previous experience with quarterbacks and where he currently is at in his career.
Tomlin had another future Hall of Fame quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, during his first 15 seasons in Pittsburgh. He and the organization then briefly went the route of trying to groom his successor with a high draft pick, but that experiment failed after the Steelers traded 2022 first-round pick Kenny Pickett to the Eagles after less than two seasons. Pittsburgh then spent the 2024 season with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields under center, going 10-7 before losing to the Ravens in the wild card round.
While the Wilson experiment didn’t go as planned, it’s clear that the experience didn’t deter Tomlin from pursuing another established veteran quarterback in Rodgers, who, like Tomlin, is hoping to cap off his career on a high note. Like Rodgers, the 53-year-old Tomlin is on the back nine of his career. With two years left on his current contract, Tomlin has decided to go with a proven commodity (Rodgers) instead of taking a chance on another young quarterback, at least for the 2025 season.
With a Super Bowl win, two AFC titles, seven division titles and 18 consecutive non-losing seasons, Tomlin’s legacy in Pittsburgh is secure at this point. But Rodgers’ era with the Steelers will no doubt impact Tomlin’s legacy at some level.
Given Rodgers’ age (41), polarizing personality and good-not-great 2024 season, Tomlin’s pursuit of Rodgers was obviously a risk. It was, however, a risk Tomlin was clearly willing to make as he and the Steelers look to snap their drought without a playoff win, which dates back to the end of the 2016 season.
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Author: Bryan DeArdo
June 7, 2025 | 10:35 am
