The Pittsburgh Steelers patiently waited for Aaron Rodgers to join them, allowing the future Hall of Famer to take all the time he needed to make his decision. Throughout the entire process, it was widely believed that Rodgers would end up with Pittsburgh at some point.
Due to various personal circumstances, Rodgers wasn’t able to finalize a deal with the Steelers as quickly as he would have liked. However, it seemed he gave the franchise his word throughout the process.
“I just think verbally, behind the scenes, not that he guaranteed it, but he’s told [the Steelers], 'Listen, I'm gonna play for you. I just don’t want to go there and then miss part of mandatory minicamp because of my personal issues. I'm pretty sure they're gonna be solved by the end of May, at least in my satisfaction where I can give you my all,’” Ian O’Connor said.
On Thursday, Rodgers informed the Steelers that he would be signing with them. No one was more disappointed by this move than the Atlanta Falcons.
“That stinks for Cousins, and the Falcons may not be too thrilled about running out of trade options either. While Atlanta has said it is "comfortable" keeping Cousins around as its backup, general manager Terry Fontenot can't be eager to hand out a $27.5 million salary to his QB2,” Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox wrote.
However, the addition of Rodgers may not be all sunshine and rainbows, as it could hurt DK Metcalf’s playmaking ability.
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“Will a wideout who typically does most of his damage as an outside deep threat defeating man-to-man coverage grow frustrated playing with Rodgers, especially given their combustible on-field personas and his growing propensity to stay inside the numbers? (And especially given Rodgers’ own combustible on-field persona and propensity to telegraph shade at teammates who don’t run routes to his specifications?) Don’t be surprised, despite Rodgers' private workouts with Metcalf,” USA Today’s Nate Davis wrote.
While it remains unclear if it will actually happen, the new duo may not be as in sync as many expect. Only time will tell, but this is certainly something to watch as the season progresses.