Aaron Rodgers, the new starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has never denied having initial interest in joining other teams, including the Minnesota Vikings.
He rejected the widespread speculation, however, that he was “waiting out the Vikings” before ultimately signing his one-year contract with Pittsburgh on June 7.
In similar fashion to his appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on April 17, Rodgers told reporters at Steelers’ minicamp this week that his desire to play for Mike Tomlin never wavered throughout what ended up being a long, drawn-out free agency process. He reiterated that some personal matters within his inner circle required his full attention, and he waited until things were in a better place at home before ultimately deciding to sign with the Steelers.
As for potentially joining coach Kevin O’Connell in Minnesota? Rodgers made it sound like that door was closed after their initial conversations back in March.
“There were conversations with other organizations, for sure,” Rodgers said during his intro presser in Pittsburgh. “But, again, the rapport that fell in between me and Mike made it to where, as I was going through my personal stuff, there wasn’t any other option for me. It was here or not play.”
The Rodgers-to-Minnesota storyline just wouldn’t die this offseason. Even when it was clear that the Vikings were moving forward with J.J. McCarthy as their starter, ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler reignited the discussion when he told sportscaster Dan Patrick: “There’s some teams I’ve talked to that are still kind of wondering, ‘Is he just waiting out the Vikings?’ Because the Vikings would be an ideal scenario.”
The Vikings certainly could have signed Rodgers this offseason. They also easily could have signed back Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones, if they wanted to pony up the cash.
In the end, McCarthy was always going to be their guy. And whether you believe Rodgers’ story or not, at least he, the Steelers and everybody else can finally move on, because the Vikings moved on months ago.
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