Like all good sequels, the Aaron Rodgers-Pittsburgh Steelers melodrama has had a few decent twists and turns that would make Randy from Scream proud. A rarely used contract tender after weeks of promised deadlines coming and going without any sort of direction or answers? How exciting. Now, a new door has opened in this weird game of chicken between the future Hall of Fame quarterback and the franchise who have no idea what he wants to do.
On April 30, John Breech of CBS Sports threw out the idea of Rodgers joining the Arizona Cardinals instead of the Steelers.
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“At this point, [the Cardinals] QB situation is still up in the air,” Breech writes. “Going into April, Jacoby Brissett appeared to have the inside track, but he’s skipping the team’s voluntary workouts because he wants to be paid like a starter. Instead of giving Brissett more money, the Cardinals could simply call Rodgers and offer that money to him.”
While that could make sense financially for Rodgers, many wondered what pieces on the roster would seem enticing. However, after adding running back Jeremiyah Love to complement wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr and tight end Trey McBride, there is plenty of young talent that could just be a quarterback away from taking off.
Additionally, Mike Florio of NBC Sports says that Arizona has “always” been a possibility to land Rodgers, as his former offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett was hired in the same role by head coach Mike LaFleur, the brother of Rodgers’ former head coach in Green Bay, Matt LaFleur.
“The Cardinals have always been a possibility, given that they don’t have a clear first-string quarterback on the roster,” Florio writes. “And it would make sense for the Cardinals to be interested in Rodgers. Nathaniel Hackett, his former offensive coordinator with the Packers and the Jets, has that same role in Arizona now. And Mike LaFleur, brother of Packers head coach Matt LaFleur (with whom Rodgers won a pair of NFL MVP awards), is the Cardinals’ head coach.”
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Perhaps Rodgers sees the warm weather of Arizona, as well as his good friend in Hackett as more alluring than playing in two months of cold weather in Pittsburgh. Should that be the case, he needs to sign with Arizona by July 22 or the Steelers will hold his rights for the 2026 season. And if that is, indeed, what happens, Pittsburgh would likely role into the summer with Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, and Drew Allar duking it out to see who will be the Week 1 starter.
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