Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our Aaron Rodgers-to-Pittsburgh updates.
Steelers president Art Rooney II offered an incremental update on his team's pursuit of the future Hall of Fame quarterback on Tuesday at the Annual League Meeting, inching closer to the free agent Rodgers potentially joining the team.
"We keep hearing that he's, I guess, headed in our direction," Rooney said, via ESPN's Brooke Pryor, "and so that seems to (indicate that) all signs are positive so far."
Positive, true, but hardly settled. Rooney admitted that the drawn-out process has gone on longer than anticipated after Rodgers and the team first met nearly two weeks ago.
"Didn't envision it taking this long," Rooney said.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Sunday that there was “no timetable” for Rodgers and the Steelers to make a decision. But there's also only so much sand in the glass. The Steelers aren't willing to wait indefinitely for Rodgers' decision.
"Not forever," Rooney said Tuesday, "but a little while longer."
There have been other bread crumbs along the way, too, with Rodgers and DK Metcalf meeting for a recent throwing session. Rooney said he believed that was also a "good sign" in a potential union between the two sides.
Rodgers, 41, spent the first 18 seasons of his career in Green Bay, followed by the past two with the New York Jets. Although Rodgers completed a comeback following an Achilles injury in the 2023 opener, starting all 17 games for the Jets last season, Rodgers and the Jets mostly struggled in a 5-12 campaign.
The Vikings and Rodgers were considered a possible offseason pairing at one point, although first-round QB J.J. McCarthy now appears to be their most likely starter next season. It's not known if Rodgers has spoken with any other teams this offseason since the Jets released him.
The Steelers, meanwhile, moved on from the Russell Wilson-Justin Fields duo this offseason and have only two quarterbacks currently on the roster: Mason Rudolph, who re-signed with the team this offseason, and Skylar Thompson, who was signed to a futures contract in January.
With the draft closing in on three weeks away and offseason programs starting this month, the Steelers continue to wait for Rodgers' decision. Will the sand run out before that happens?
