Aaron Rodgers has made his free-agency decision at last.
The 41-year-old has told the Steelers he’ll sign with the team before next week’s mandatory minicamp, NFL Network reported Thursday, ending a highly scrutinized and tedious interlude to determine where he wants to play in his 21st NFL season.
Rodgers met with the Steelers on March 21, but took more than two months to decide to join the perennial contender.
“We keep hearing that he’s headed in our direction,” Steelers owner Art Rooney II said at the NFL owners meetings on April 1. “I’d say we feel pretty good about it at this time.”
This Giants were initially in the running for Rodgers, but moved on early in free agency with the signings of Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson.
The Giants then drafted Jaxson Dart in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Steelers have waited patiently as Rodgers flirted unsuccessfully with the Vikings, who opted to take their chances with second-year QB J.J. McCarthy.
McCarthy had impressed Minnesota in training camp and preseason last year before suffering a season-ending meniscus injury.
The Steelers won 10 games in 2024 and lost in the first round of the playoffs with Wilson and Justin Fields, who signed with the Jets this offseason, manning the quarterback position.
They brought back longtime backup Mason Rudolph, who was atop the depth chart until Rodgers’ decision.
The Jets let it be known after the season they would release Rodgers after two uninspiring seasons.
Not that Gang Green will escape him just yet — they play the Steelers in Week 1.