Ex-Aaron Rodgers Teammate Supports Steelers Amid QB Pursuit

The Pittsburgh Steelers remain seated in the free agency waiting room this offseason, awaiting a response from 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Rodgers met with the Steelers and visited the team’s practice facility, which gave general manager Omar Khan a chance to speak with the current free agent for a few hours. No deal was struck immediately following the visit, but it’s kept Pittsburgh in the running while other teams — like the Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans — also take a swing at landing Rodgers.

James Jones, who spent eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers as Rodgers’ teammate, claims the Steelers are in too deep, but that their strong pursuit of the four-time NFL MVP is worth the wait.

“It’s too late because you already showed Aaron Rodgers, we are waiting on you,” Jones said Monday on “The Facility.” “We done told all these quarterbacks, no. We done told Russell Wilson, no. We done lost out on all these quarterbacks. So, the only option left to do if you want to try to have a productive season is to bring in Aaron Rodgers. So you have to wait. You have to wait on Aaron Rodgers. There’s no quarterback in the draft that you’re gonna get that’s gonna walk into your building and help your team win games right now, because you are not picking high enough to Shedeur (Sanders) or Cam Ward.”

Khan’s Steelers watched as Russell Wilson and Justin Fields — the organization’s quarterback duo from last season — sign with the New York Giants and New York Jets, respectively. That crossed two names off the team’s options list. Pittsburgh brought back Mason Rudolph, but he’s far from ready to lead a team to a playoff push from Week 1 to the final game of the season. So, at this point, Jones is right. Pittsburgh’s best remaining option is to keep its fingers crossed in hopes that Rodgers favors head coach Mike Tomlin and joins the Steelers.

Rodgers underwent a brutal exit from the Jets, leading the front office to meet with him to demonstrate its desire for a split rather than a retention. Rodgers failed to keep New York competitive, although the team did everything to accommodate him, such as firing ex-head coach Robert Saleh and acquiring upgrades at the trade deadline in Mike Williams and Preston Smith. Still, it wasn’t enough to get the Jets over the hump in the AFC East.

Even that isn’t stopping Jones from advocating for his former quarterback.

“Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback out there left to help a team win football games,” Jones continued. “The Pittsburgh Steelers are a team right now that are not in a rebuild. They have guys like T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick that can play the game at a high level. You just go out there and you pay one of the best wide receivers in the game in DK Metcalf. … I do not believe they are making a mistake, but they have put themselves in a position where they have to wait on him.”

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