Aaron Rodgers plans to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers is expected to sign a 1-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of next week’s minicamp.
Sports Pulse
After months of will-he or won’t-he, Aaron Rodgers is finally a Pittsburgh Steeler.
To ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark and many others, it wasn’t a surprise. But it also wasn’t a surprise Clark is no fan of the signing.
“This is the offseason’s worst-kept secret,” Clark said on SportsCenter June 5 after news broke that Rodgers was joining the Steelers, before adding, “this is the worst-case scenario for Pittsburgh Steelers fans. It continues to keep you mired in mediocrity.”
Clark, who played eight seasons for the Steelers during his career, has been a vocal critic of Rodgers in recent years while on ESPN shows.
He called Rodgers a “fraud” and “arrogant” in December 2024 over comments the former Green Bay Packers quarterback made about ex-athletes in sports media. And this offseason, Clark felt Rodgers was holding the Steelers “hostage” by not making a decision sooner.
Here’s more on Clark’s feelings about Rodgers:
Aaron Rodgers signing with the Steelers is the worse case scenario. I think he’ll play good enough, & the team will be just good enough to miss out on a franchise guy next year! One of the greatest players of the era, & one of its greatest head coaches… just years too late.… pic.twitter.com/Py46A0N0M2
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) June 5, 2025Ryan Clark on Aaron Rodgers: Steelers won’t contend for a championship
Clark recognizes that Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP, “absolutely” makes the Steelers a better team. That’s without a doubt. The Steelers’ quarterback depth chart before signing Rodgers featured veteran Mason Rudolph (18 starts with a 9-8-1 record in seven seasons) and 2025 sixth-round draft pick Will Howard.
But adding a 41-year-old Rodgers won’t make the Steelers Super Bowl favorites in Clark’s eyes.
“Will they contend for that championship that Pittsburgh Steelers people and fans and organization think is the standard?” Clark said. “No, they won’t.”
The Steelers last won the Super Bowl during the 2007 season and last appeared in the Super Bowl in 2010 when they lost to Rodgers and the Packers.
With coach Mike Tomlin at the helm, the Steelers haven’t had a losing season in 18 seasons. But Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game since 2017.
Clark believes the Steelers still won’t be the class of the AFC with Rodgers. Instead, “they’ll be fighting for a wild-card spot.”
“They’ll probably be home week 1 of the playoffs,” Clark said.
Aaron Rodgers to Steelers is years too late, Ryan Clark believes
With Rodgers as the new starter, the Steelers will be starting their fourth Week 1 starter since longtime Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season.
And when the Steelers’ partnership is over with Rodgers, Clark says they’ll again be searching for a franchise quarterback.
“If you told me you’re going to pair one of this era’s greatest coaches with one of the era’s greatest quarterbacks, I’d expect greatness,” Clark said. “That is not what we’ll get. Maybe six years ago, but not now.”
Rodgers hasn’t been in the playoffs since the 2021 season with the Packers. He missed nearly all of the 2023 season during his first year with the New York Jets after he suffered a torn Achilles. Rodgers returned for the 2024 season but the Jets had a miserable 5-12 campaign. The Jets released Rodgers in March.
Clark recognizes that the speeches Tomlin and Rodgers will give during their inductions of the Pro Football Hall of Fame will be noteworthy down the road.
“One will give one of these the most emotional and inspirational speeches,” Clark said, referencing Tomlin, while Rodgers “will probably give the most interesting.”
But he said the 2025 season “won’t mean anything” in their overall résumés.
Aaron Rodgers contract
Rodgers is signing a one-year contract with the Steelers, the team announced.
Terms weren’t announced but Rodgers previously said he would play for $10 million. If that’s true remains to be seen. Rodgers’ base salary in his last season with the Packers in 2022 was $50.27 million and, in his two years with the Jets, his average salary was over $37 million.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport believes Rodgers’ base salary for this year will actually be more on the low end and instead paired with more incentives.
Aaron Rodgers through the years
Rodgers has authored a Hall of Fame career in his 20 years in the NFL. He’s one of two players in NFL history with four or more NFL MVPs.
He’s fifth all-time in passing touchdowns with 503. He’ll likely pass Brett Favre, the quarterback he sat behind for three years in Green Bay, early in the 2025 season. Favre ended his Hall of Fame career with 508 touchdown passes.
Rodgers was the Super Bowl MVP in the Packers’ 31-26 win over the Steelers in 2010.
Aaron Rodgers 20 years in the NFL
Earlier this spring marked 20 years since the Packers selected Rodgers with the 24th overall selection in the 2005 draft.
He famously fell in the draft, waiting hours in the green room before the Packers called his name.