In the end, one thing set the Steelers apart as Aaron Rodgers finally made his free agency decision.
On Tuesday, three days after he officially penned his one-year, $13.65 million contract with Pittsburgh, the 41-year-old quarterback revealed the role head coach Mike Tomlin played in his coming to the Steel City.
“It starts with Mike Tomlin,” Rodgers told reporters after practice. “I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. There are a few iconic franchises in the NFL. I played for one of them for 18 years. This is another one of those.”
As Rodgers had previously alluded to during his long free agency period, he reiterated Tuesday that he had been dealing with personal things during this offseason, adding that Pittsburgh was accommodating throughout the process.
“I was dealing with a lot of things in my personal life,” Rodgers added. “Things improved a little bit where I felt like I could be all in here with the guys. I had great conversations with Mike and [GM] Omar [Khan] throughout the process.”
There were rumors that the ex-Jets signal-caller might sign elsewhere, notably the Vikings, but they instead opted to give J.J. McCarthy a shot under center.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on Sunday that while Rodgers had interest in playing for Minnesota, the Vikings thought that they had a legitimate “three-year window” to compete for a title, and that playing with a QB with a rookie contract would allow them more flexibility to get surrounding pieces.
Adam Schefter also reported on ESPN after the deal that Rodgers was not the Steelers’ first choice after they had interest in trading for Matthew Stafford — who ended up staying with the Rams — and re-signing Justin Fields — who inked a deal with the Jets as Rodgers’ replacement.
So Rodgers, in the end, signed a deal with Pittsburgh, which has not had a losing season since 2003.
He said that while he hasn’t played for the Steelers until now, he’s had plenty of connections to Pittsburgh throughout his football life.
“I feel like Pittsburgh has been a part of my career from the beginning, playing for Mike McCarthy for 13 years, having Tom Clements — or Tommy Clements, depending on how old you are — as my quarterback coach forever,” Rodgers said, “Dom Capers, Kevin Greene, Darren Perry, Ben McAdoo, Frank Cignetti, Luke Getsy. I don’t want to forget anybody, but a lot of ‘Yinzers’ in my life.”
It was a whirlwind offseason for Rodgers, who was dumped by the Jets but did find love in his personal life as he revealed Tuesday that he’s been married for a few months.
Now, after a down year by his standards (90.5 quarterback rating) and a year further removed from his Achilles tear, he hopes to find his on-field marriage with the Steelers to be fruitful.