PALM BEACH, Fla. – As usual, Mike Tomlin made the pack of media wait in anticipation a few minutes more for his arrival at the AFC coaches breakfast on Monday morning.
When the Pittsburgh Steelers coach showed up at 7:51 for a session scheduled to start at 7:45, he wondered about the over/under as he settled into his seat at the table.
Yes, there was some sort of a line. Now Tomlin is a lot better than Bill Belichick, who was prone to show up (proudly) a half-hour late for such media sessions. Nonetheless, Gerry Dulac, the veteran Steelers beat writer, predicted the coach wouldn’t appear before 8:02.
“Just the game we play,” Tomlin said of the banter with the press.
Waiting. How fitting. Tomlin’s table was packed because of the suspense surrounding Aaron Rodgers, who is making the Steelers wait out the big decision on his football future.
Rodgers, 41, visited Tomlin and other key Steelers figures at the team’s headquarters on March 21 but hasn’t revealed anything publicly about his plans.
Is he coming to Pittsburgh? Pushing to join some other team, like the Minnesota Vikings? Contemplating retirement?
“I’m certainly not going to put words in his mouth or speak for him,” Tomlin said.
Typically, Tomlin was rather cool when peppered about the situation. He downplayed the extent to which he is unsettled by all of this.
“I’m really comfortable with being unsettled this time of year, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin said. “It’s about talent acquisition.”
Sure, the start of the offseason program is still weeks away. And Rodgers, a football savant, is capable of coming aboard and quickly grasping – and influencing – whatever system that offensive coordinator Arthur Smith devises.
Yet most teams already have their quarterbacks in place. And given Pittsburgh’s struggles since Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season to land a franchise quarterback of the future, this is urgent. Still.
Bruce Smith is a Hall of Famer. He’s now creating another great legacy away from football.
Then again, last year at this time the Steelers had their quarterbacks signed and delivered and … we saw how that worked out.
Of course, Rodgers would just be a short-term fix that might allow Pittsburgh to finally get past the first round of the playoffs again. Since their face-to-face meeting, the coach and quarterback have had follow-up exchanges.
Any idea on when Rodgers will have his big reveal?
“We’ve had some discussions,” Tomlin said, “but I’ll leave it between he and I.”
Maybe Tomlin has a gut feeling that he’ll eventually get his man.
After all, the NFL Network reported Monday that Rodgers had a throwing session at UCLA over the weekend with DK Metcalf, the star receiver the Steelers obtained from the Seattle Seahawks and signed to a four-year, $132 million extension. Steelers GM Omar Khan wouldn’t confirm the workout to reporters on Monday, but it was seemingly another sign that points to the possibility that Pittsburgh will wind up with Rodgers in the fold.
Regardless, this might remind Tomlin of his pre-NFL days recruiting top prospects on the college level. Someone asked about his preferred mode of communication. Text message, phone call or FaceTime?
“All of the above,” he said. “Interesting question, though.”
Clearly, Tomlin is content to wait it out. Not that he has much choice after the Steelers missed out on keeping Justin Fields, who took a free agent landing with the New York Jets as, well, Rodgers’ replacement. And the Steelers ultimately showed what they thought of Russell Wilson, who started fast in 2024 after rebounding from a calf injury but fizzled tremendously down the stretch as the Steelers season crashed and burned. Again.
The potential upside of adding the four-time MVP quarterback to a team coming off a first-round playoff exit for the second consecutive season – even if Rodgers isn’t as spectacular as he used to be – sure beats the alternatives about now.
In this desperate case, the potential payoff is worth any risk fueled by the wait.
It’s no wonder that, despite the shots coming from critics about the Steelers’ approach, Tomlin was so upbeat in assessing his face-to-face meeting with Rodgers.
“We had a really productive day,” Tomlin said. “He’s been in this thing a long time. I’ve been in this thing a long time, but it’s no substitute for, you know, intimacy and spending time together, getting to know one another in a non-competitive environment. And so that was really good. But I don’t have any new updates in terms of where the process is. We’ll see where it leads us.”
Tomlin insists there is no deadline from the Steelers that would force Rodgers’ hand. If the season started today, Mason Rudolph, brought back to Pittsburgh this offseason after a year with the Tennessee Titans, would be the starter.
Then again, maybe this situation needs some sort of firm date that would allow all parties to adjust as needed.
“I hadn’t thought a lot about it,” Tomlin insisted. “There is no drop-dead date specifically in my mind.”
In other words, this anticipation could stretch out for a few more weeks.
“He’s a free agent,” Tomlin added. “That’s what this business is about. Had a really good experience with him. He’s a heck of a guy, a heck of a talent, and we had a good experience together.”
There’s no question that Rodgers and Tomlin – who have both won a Super Bowl but found the trek back to the NFL mountaintop to be such a slippery slope – potentially can find commonality in the quest to prove their championship viability is still possible. That might be the ultimate answer to the question of whether Rodgers, with his huge persona, can fit into the Steelers’ culture. A lot of fits happen with winning.
Tomlin has never had a losing season in 18 campaigns as Steelers coach but hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season. Rodgers last played in a conference title game with the Green Bay Packers in the 2020 season.
They both know. The clock is ticking. And not just on Rodgers’ decision.
After all, they’ve waited long enough.
–Follow Jarrett Bell on social media: @JarrettBell