{"id":54264,"date":"2025-06-08T02:58:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T02:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54264"},"modified":"2025-06-08T02:58:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T02:58:37","slug":"breaking-mike-tomlins-true-feelings-on-steelers-wait-for-aaron-rodgers-revealed-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54264","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin\u2019s True Feelings on Steelers\u2019 Wait for Aaron Rodgers Revealed: Report.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2179890762-4.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2179890762-4.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2179890762-4.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2179890762-4.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Mike Tomlin Aaron Rodgers\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" data-dom-ready-time=\"172\" data-img-load-time=\"916\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">ESPN&#8217;s Brooke Pryor reported how Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin felt about waiting so long for quarterback Aaron Rodgers to sign.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Head coach Mike Tomlin and the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0conveyed the idea publicly that they were perfectly fine waiting months for quarterback\u00a0Aaron Rodgers\u00a0to make a decision on the 2025 NFL season. According to ESPN, the feeling was no different for Tomlin and the Steelers behind the scenes.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN\u2019s Brooke Pryor reported Thursday that Tomlin had no issue with how long it took Rodgers to sign with the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLongtime Steelers coach Mike Tomlin loomed large throughout the process and was a drawing card for Rodgers, according to [Adam] Schefter\u2019s sources, who added that Tomlin was happy to work within Rodgers\u2019 timeline this offseason,\u201d\u00a0wrote Pryor.<\/p>\n<p>The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette\u2019s Gerry Dulac reported\u00a0on March 12 that Tomlin and the Steelers made an offer to Rodgers. However, Dulac posted on X that Rodgers was \u201ctaking his old ol\u2019 time about making a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the process, Tomlin and the Steelers\u00a0continuously suggested\u00a0they had not given Rodgers a timeline and that they would wait for the quarterback.<\/p>\n<p>Rodgers\u00a0signed a one-year contract with the Steelers on Thursday night.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers Worked on Aaron Rodgers\u2019 Timeline<\/h2>\n<p>It became clear during the first week of NFL free agency that if the Steelers were going to sign Rodgers, it would be on his terms.<\/p>\n<p>So, the Steelers allowed Rodgers to dictate the timeline.<\/p>\n<p>The quarterback shared during an appearance on ESPN\u2019s\u00a0<em>The Pat McAfee Show<\/em> that he was honest about his offseason goals, which included personal issues in his life taking a priority.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have off-the-field stuff going on that requires my attention, and I have a couple people in my inner circle who are battling some quite difficult stuff,\u201d\u00a0said Rodgers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis entire time, I haven\u2019t felt like I owed anybody some sort of decision at any point,\u201d\u00a0Rodgers added in his conversation with McAfee. \u201cThis is my life. Things are different now. My life is different; my personal life is different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rodgers indicated during that interview on April 17 that the Steelers were obliging.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been up front with them about that and said, \u2018If you need to move on, if you need to do something, by all means. Nothing but love and respect if that\u2019s the decision that needs to be made.\u2019 But there\u2019s been no deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Mike Tomlin\u2019s Patience Pays Off for Steelers<\/h2>\n<p>While Rodgers\u2019 signing was likely more dramatic than the team or anyone else wanted, it happened. The Steelers were able to sign the quarterback they have been targeting in free agency for months.<\/p>\n<p>That means\u00a0Mason Rudolph, who the Steelers also added in free agency, will slide down the depth chart to the backup role. Sixth-round rookie\u00a0Will Howard will be the team\u2019s No. 3 signal-caller.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers also have quarterback\u00a0Skylar Thompson\u00a0on the offseason roster.<\/p>\n<p>Rodgers isn\u2019t the same four-time MVP quarterback he once was. But he brings a lot more experience and stability to a quarterback room in Pittsburgh that was sorely lacking both before he signed.<\/p>\n<p>Rodgers will likely provide that for one season in Pittsburgh. Then next year, the Steelers will probably target a quarterback early in the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty ESPN&#8217;s Brooke Pryor reported how Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin felt about waiting so long for quarterback Aaron Rodgers to sign. Head coach Mike Tomlin&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Mike Tomlin\u2019s True Feelings on Steelers\u2019 Wait for Aaron Rodgers Revealed: Report.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54264\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Mike Tomlin\u2019s True Feelings on Steelers\u2019 Wait for Aaron Rodgers Revealed: Report.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty ESPN&#8217;s Brooke Pryor reported how Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin felt about waiting so long for quarterback Aaron Rodgers to sign. 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