Future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers remains a free agent at this time. Rodgers was released by the New York Jets before the start of free agency. The veteran signal-caller met with the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this offseason, but a deal hasn’t come together.
There are still questions about whether Rodgers will play in 2025. On Thursday, he appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show” to address the speculation — and he used the opportunity to fire back at a Steelers legend for some recent comments.
Aaron Rodgers Takes Aim at Steelers Legend Ben Roethlisberger
Rodgers hit on a few big topics during his appearance with McAfee: His exit from the Jets and his relationship with a mystery woman. But he also used the moment to speak out about what he called unfair narratives around his free agency.
Rodgers pushed back on what he called “inaccurate narratives” and called out Steelers great Ben Roethlisberger for fueling those rumors.
“There’s been a lot of narratives that have not been anywhere near accurate, starting with the Jets, continuing with something I just read about, you know, me pitching something to the Vikings,” Rodgers said.
“I know Ben [Roethlisberger], I only know this again because of Mia [his sister]. I know Ben was on the show talking about me waiting around for the Vikings. That’s not accurate either.”
Rodgers signing with the Vikings has been a hot theory since he hit free agency. Many pointed out the similarities to Brett Favre, who also played for the Packers before finishing his career with the Jets and Vikings. Rodgers, though, cleared the air about his connection with Minnesota.
"There's been a lot of narratives that haven't been anywhere near accurate..
I've known Kevin O'Connell forever and we have a great friendship..
We talk outside of just football and we've always had good communication" ~ @AaronRodgers12 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/04ScQFp3nn
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow)
“I know there’s, I’m sure some lot of sentiment from both Packer fans, s**t, even maybe Vikings fans, about certain things,” said Rodgers. “But, no, I’ve known Kevin forever. I’ve known Kevin O’Connell since we used to work out at Fitness Quest 10, I think it was called, in San Diego County in North County. So, I’ve known him for 17, 18 years. And we’ve got a good friendship.
“So we talk outside of just, you know, this offseason. We keep in touch during the season. So we’ve had good communication.”
Rodgers had a decent 2024 season, though it didn’t match his past MVP form. He finished the season with a 72.2 (C-) grade in PFSN’s QB+ metrics. The Jets, however, finished with a 5-12 record, and both head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas were subsequently fired.
After being released by New York, the future Hall of Famer met with several teams. His visit with the Steelers drew plenty of attention, reportedly lasting several hours. Pittsburgh is still searching for a quarterback after moving on from Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
Whether Rodgers decides to run it back in 2025 is still unclear. He’s clearly in no rush and seems comfortable taking his time. We’ll just have to wait and see if he ends up in Black and Gold next season.
