Aaron Rodgers Rumors: Vikings Not 'Too Heavy' in Pursuit amid Steelers, Giants Buzz

The Minnesota Vikings are not "too heavy" in their pursuit of free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers amid the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants' reported interest, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler on SportsCenter Saturday (1:50 mark).

"Well, the hold-up is he's taking his time to figure out what's right for him, but I've talked to a source who said the Minnesota Vikings are sort of loosely involved here, but the expectation is they wouldn't go too heavy here because they're concerned about J.J. McCarthy's development, but they are at least lurking," Fowler began before giving a more complete picture on the Rodgers situation.

"The two main players still appear to be the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. I'm told they have standing offers out to Rogers. He is mulling them. The sentiment around the league is that he can be a Pittsburgh Steeler, but nothing official yet."

The Vikings is still not out of the running, however, with Michael Silver, Dianna Russini and Alec Lewis of The Athletic reporting that Rodgers is hoping to land in Minnesota.

"The Vikings have been strongly weighing the possibility of pursuing Rodgers," The Athletic reported, with the decision will likely come down to head coach Kevin O'Connell.

The 41-year-old Rodgers, a 10-time Pro Bowler and four-time NFL MVP, completed 63.0 percent of his passes for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season for the New York Jets.

Rodgers had one more year on his contract, but the Jets released him on Wednesday as they turned the page to a different era led by new leadership in general manager Darren Mougey and head coach Aaron Glenn. Justin Fields will be the team's starting quarterback after signing a two-year contract.

Meanwhile, Rodgers is looking for a new home. The Vikings have their 2024 first-round pick waiting for his shot in McCarthy, who missed all of last season with a torn meniscus. Veteran Sam Darnold was the team's QB1 last year and excelled with 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns. He parlayed that into a three-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks.

The Vikings went 14-3 last year before losing in the NFC Wild Card round to the Los Angeles Rams. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah then led a free agency spending spree that included Indianapolis Colts offensive linemen Ryan Kelly and Will Fries, defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave.

This team is built to win now. McCarthy certainly is a talented player with high upside, but it's also unclear how he'd perform in 2025 as a de-facto rookie coming off a season-ending injury. In theory, the Vikings could look to Rodgers to buy McCarthy time and better take advantage of the team's roster this year.

Or, as Fowler noted, concern over McCarthy's development could loom the largest, and Minnesota may very well just roll with him.

In the meantime, it's a waiting game for the Vikings, Steelers and Giants fanbases as they wait to officially see who their starting quarterbacks will be in 2025.