Rapoport: Aaron Rodgers Retiring Instead of Signing with Steelers Seems Unlikely

The Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Aaron Rodgers are making "positive momentum" toward an agreement, but the situation largely remains unchanged, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

Rapoport added that "the specter of retirement—possible retirement—doesn't seem likely."

Back in February, The Athletic's Mike Sando interviewed an agent who suggested Rodgers could walk away from the NFL entirely this offseason because "he won’t want the teams that will want him."

A month later, Michael Silver, Dianna Russini and Alec Lewis of The Athletic reported the four-time MVP had the Minnesota Vikings at the top of his wish list. If the Vikings removed themselves from the race, then retirement was at least one potential outcome.

Here we are in early April and Minnesota has apparently done just that by setting the stage for J.J. McCarthy to start at quarterback.

Rodgers, meanwhile, has yet to hang up his cleats.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported Sunday on SportsCenter the Steelers "remain optimistic" about landing the surefire Hall of Famer. He added that people around the NFL "believe that the Steelers must've gotten some sort of assurance at some point from Rodgers that he's going to sign eventually."

The problem for Pittsburgh is that it's becoming increasingly hard to put a positive spin on signing Rodgers, assuming it happens.

The 41-year-old is in the twilight of his career and had one of his worst seasons in 2024. The Steelers are basically signing Russell Wilson all over again, and we saw how that worked out the first time.

Compounding matters, it looks as though Rodgers is waiting to finalize an agreement in the hope a better opportunity emerges. Nobody will buy the idea that Pittsburgh was his first choice when free agency opened.

Two things can be true. Rodgers is the best quarterback who's still unsigned, and a prospective partnership with the Steelers has all of the ingredients to leave everyone unsatisfied in the end.