Winners and Losers After Aaron Rodgers Signs Contract With Steelers

While we didn't expect Aaron Rodgers Watch 2025 to still be a storyline in June, it was, and it was an important one for a few interested parties. On Thursday, we learned what the 41-year-old quarterback plans to do during the 2025 season.

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Rodgers has informed the Steelers that he will fly into Pittsburgh on Friday to sign a contract. Per Pelissero, contract parameters "have been in place for months," and the four-time NFL MVP will be on the field when mandatory minicamp begins on Tuesday.

This is obviously a big, if long-anticipated, development for both the player and the Steelers. However, his signing will impact others around the NFL. Here, we'll dive into the biggest winners and losers of Rodgers signing with Pittsburgh.

Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers

AP Photo/Ron Schwane

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin

The most obvious winner of Rodgers finally joining Pittsburgh is the Steelers. There are a few reasons for this, though the biggest is that they pretty much bet their entire 2025 season on him joining the club.

The Steelers never made a serious effort to retain Russell Wilson, and they lost Justin Fields to a better offer from the New York Jets. They did bring back Mason Rudolph and take a sixth-round flier on Will Howard, but it was pretty much Rodgers or bust once the draft passed without a more serious investment in the QB position.

Now, is a 41-year-old Rodgers the best option Pittsburgh could have pursued this offseason? That's debatable. It's been several years since he played at an elite level, and he doesn't offer much long-term value. At this point in the offseason, though, landing him is a big win.

As Pelissero noted, the Steelers and Rodgers had an agreement in place. However, there was always a chance he could back out and leave Pittsburgh hanging. That's not going to happen, and the Steelers have their QB1 for the 2025 season.

The other reason why the Steelers are winners here? They can finally stop taking questions about whether Rodgers will sign or what the plan is if he doesn't.

"They're sick of hearing about it, and they're sick of being asked about it," Pelissero recently told the Rich Eisen Show (h/t MassLive's Lauren Campbell).

Pittsburgh may not know what to expect from Rodgers this season, but it knows he'll be a Steeler.

Losers: The Rest of the AFC North

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Bengals QB Joe Burrow

Here's the point where we bring up (again) the fact that Pittsburgh has never experienced a losing season under head coach Mike Tomlin.

Since he took over the team in 2007, the Steelers have gone at least .500 every year and, more often than not, have been relevant in the AFC North race.

Now, Pittsburgh hasn't actually won a playoff game since the 2016 season, and it hasn't won the division since 2020. However, it has made the postseason in two straight seasons and made things interesting in the AFC North.

Last season, for example, the Steelers sat at 10-3 in mid-December with a 2-1 record within the division. Then, a four-game slide dropped them into a wild-card slot. During that skid, wide receiver George Pickens battled a hamstring injury, and Wilson failed to provide high-level QB play without his top target at 100 percent.

Pickens is now gone, replaced by a more dependable pass-catcher in DK Metcalf. While Rodgers may not be the perennial Pro Bowler he once was, he may have a bit more remaining in the tank than Wilson does, despite being nearly six years older.

Wilson flat-out struggled late in 2024, throwing for only 698 yards with four touchdown passes and four turnovers over his final four games. Rodgers threw for 931 yards with eight touchdown passes and four turnovers over his final four.

With another summer between him and his 2023 Achilles tear, Rodgers should continue being an above-average quarterback for the Steelers.

An above-average signal-caller may be all Pittsburgh needs to make a serious run within its division once again. The rest of the roster is strong enough, and the coaching is good enough. However, the Steelers have gotten merely average quarterback play since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2020 season.

With all due respect to Rudolph and Howard, neither was likely to provide a boost. Rodgers might, and that's less than ideal for the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns.

Winner: Aaron Rodgers

AP Photo/Doug Murray

Rodgers has to be considered a winner, even if Pittsburgh wasn't his absolute top choice for the 2025 season.

Michael Silver, Dianna Russini and Alec Lewis of The Athletic reported at the beginning of the offseason that the 10-time Pro Bowler wanted to sign with the Minnesota Vikings. Who could blame him? Playmakers like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson helped make Sam Darnold a Pro Bowler in 2024. They could certainly help Rodgers erase the stink of his Jets tenure.

The Steelers, though, can do the same. While their offensive supporting cast isn't nearly as impressive as Minnesota's—and one could argue even less impressive than what Rodgers had in New York last season—they're highly unlikely to stumble through the season in comical fashion.

New York's 2024 campaign was a disaster. Head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas were both fired in-season, trading for Davante Adams didn't solve the offense's incongruity, and, fair or not, Rodgers took plenty of blame along the way.

"His comments are upsetting players and upsetting people in their private lives, who are now questioning if Aaron Rodgers is what he was supposed to be when he got here," WFAN's Boomer Esiason said in November.

Rodgers may not disappear from the media in Pittsburgh, and he may occasionally make comments that rub teammates the wrong way. However, the Steelers are one of the league's most well-coached, well-run and tight-lipped organizations. Rodgers will have a chance to create a better lasting image of himself if this proves to be his final season.

Given Pittsburgh's knack for staying playoff-relevant, Rodgers will have a legitimate chance to at least end his career on a playoff field—something that, in retrospect, was never going to happen with the Jets.

Loser: Mason Rudolph

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Steelers QB Mason Rudolph

While this pairing will give Rodgers a terrific opportunity in 2025, it also takes one away from Rudolph.

Rudolph, who started four games for the Steelers in 2023 (including playoffs) and five for the Tennessee Titans in 2024, hasn't yet established himself as a starting-caliber quarterback. He has, however, played well enough to be considered a very good backup with bridge QB potential.

And the 29-year-old was unquestionably Pittsburgh's Plan B for this season. Howard was drafted to be a developmental project, and Skylar Thompson is depth. Rudolph is a guy the Steelers have counted on before and were ready to count on again if needed.

"I think they know what I can do, what we were able to do there towards the end of 2023. They’re confident in me," Rudolph told the Kaboly and Mack podcast when asked what the Steelers told him before signing him in free agency. "They know I can play well when asked of me, when my number’s called."

The Oklahoma State product signed on a respectable two-year, $7.5 million deal this offseason, though only $3 million of that is guaranteed. He could significantly improve his situation by starting multiple games for the Steelers this year and by playing well. He could earn a raise in 2026 as Pittsburgh's QB1 or earn interest from another franchise hoping to give him a starting opportunity.

It could still happen, though it's far less likely to occur with Rodgers on the roster, barring an injury. Rudolph is now likely to enter next offseason as a 30-year-old backup who largely held the clipboard in 2025 and who will have a hard time reminding anyone he helped lead Pittsburgh to the postseason in 2023.

If nothing else, Rudolph's chance to enter Week 1 as the starter is over.

Winners: Steelers Pass-Catchers, OC Arthur Smith

AP Photo/Terrance Williams

Steelers WR Calvin Austin III

There's a good chance Rodgers plays the game-manager role in Pittsburgh this season. The Steelers don't have a ton of proven receiving talent after Metcalf and tight end Pat Freiermuth. Coordinator Arthur Smith tends to favor a run-heavy offense that utilizes quarterback movement and play-action.

However, landing Rodgers is a win for many members of the Pittsburgh offense—specifically, those not named Metcalf, who already received a four-year, $132 million extension this offseason.

Let's start with Freiermuth and wide receiver Calvin Austin III, who can benefit financially from improved quarterback play. The latter is set to be a free agent in 2026. The former signed a four-year, $48.4 million extension last year, but that deal only included $11.6 million guaranteed and can be torn up with few financial repercussions for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh could cut Freiermuth next offseason and save $4.9 million in cap space.

Last year's tandem of Fields and Wilson was serviceable for most of the season, but it didn't lead to overly impressive numbers for either Freiermuth (653 yards, 7 TDs) or Austin (548 yards, 4 TDs).

While Rodgers can still move in the pocket when necessary, he's not a scrambler like Fields or even Wilson. With the veteran QB in the fold and former starting running back Najee Harris now with the Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh's offense should rely a bit more on the pass and, specifically, winning from the pocket. That should lead to more statistical production for players such as Freiermuth, Austin, Roman Wilson and Robert Woods.

And while Rodgers might not be a perfect fit for Smith's preferred system, he should yield better results than any rotation of Rudolph, Thompson and Howard. That's important because Smith could wind up on the hot seat if his offense stumbles for the second straight year.

The Steelers ranked just 23rd in total offense last season.

Pittsburgh may never get to a point where it's willing to fire Tomlin, but it has shown a lack of patience with its offensive coordinators. Matt Canada lasted less than three full seasons before he was ousted and replaced by Smith.

Pittsburgh's offense in Canada's last season? 25th overall.

There's no guarantee Rodgers will help the offense be markedly better than it was a year ago. However, Smith cannot afford for it to be worse. And with Rodgers behind center, it shouldn't be.

Losers: Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons

AP Photo/Nick Wass

With Rodgers finally agreeing to join Pittsburgh, the Steelers are officially out of the quarterback market. That's good for the franchise and its fans, but it's bad news for any other signal-caller hoping to land a starting gig this offseason.

The elephant in the room, of course, is Kirk Cousins. The four-time Pro Bowler signed a four-year, $180 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons last offseason but lost the starting QB job to first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. before the end of the year.

While the door to starting in Atlanta is closed for Cousins, the 36-year-old wants to start this season. He made that clear early in the offseason when he essentially told teams he didn't want to again serve as a bridge to a highly drafted rookie.

"Rather than taking anyone’s word for it, Cousins has already signaled to teams that he would likely want to wait to see what happens over draft weekend before accepting a trade," Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer wrote in March.

Pittsburgh was Cousins' last hope of joining a quality roster with playoff aspirations and possibly walking in as QB1. Now, he must resign himself to being Penix's backup unless another starter suffers a significant injury or a training-camp QB competition goes completely awry.

That stinks for the four-time Pro Bowler, and the Falcons may not be too thrilled about running out of trade options, either. While Atlanta has said it is "comfortable" keeping Cousins around as its backup, general manager Terry Fontenot can't be eager to hand out a $27.5 million salary to his QB2.

Financially, trading Cousins became more realistic after June 1, since teams can prorate dead money over the next two seasons. This means that while moving him before that date would have saved just $2.5 million in cap space, it would not save $27.5 million.

For a team with just $5.3 million in cap space, that's significant.

With no starting opportunities left open, the Falcons will have an extremely difficult time convincing Cousins to waive his no-trade clause now.

*Cap and contract information via Spotrac.