The quarterback carousel continues to spin in the 2025 NFL offseason with Russell Wilson joining the New York Giants, who also recently added former #1 overall pick Jameis Winston to the fray. Most everybody at least knows who they are going to ask to the dance at this point but not everybody has a date. And as Aaron Rodgers continues to follow the Brett Favre career script down to the letter, he might be the deciding factor of just how wild the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft is going to get.
Rodgers has met with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He's allegedly intrigued by the possibility of playing with the Vikings. The New York Giants are off the table. The Los Angeles Rams are off the table.
It feels right now as though it's the Pittsburgh Steelers or bust for Rodgers, and that has led to some more recent rumors that he might be contemplating not playing this season.
Again, he's following the Favre script down to the very letter...
Aaron Rodgers decision could lead to 2025 NFL Draft mayhem
Let's take a trip down each of these potential paths for a moment. The first path is that Rodgers signs with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That might not have nearly as big of an impact on the first round of the NFL Draft in terms of guys being selected, but in terms of players who could get passed up on in round one.
If Rodgers signs with the Steelers, it opens up the possibility for Pittsburgh to enter the first-round running back fray, and there could be significant competition there. With the way guys like Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, and Saquon Barkley impacted teams last year, the rest of the NFL is going to be trying desperately to find their own version of that.
If the Steelers do not land Rodgers, it puts them firmly in the 1st-round quarterback mix and possibly candidates to trade up if they really like someone.
There is a lot of smoke around the idea of the Steelers being enamored by Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe, which would make a ton of sense given some of the quarterbacks Arthur Smith has excelled with in the past. Milroe is a very gifted athlete with a big-time arm who has drawn some comparisons to Anthony Richardson coming out of Florida.
The Steelers might be candidates to pick a quarterback regardless of Aaron Rodgers' decision, but if Rodgers decides to hang up the cleats, we could see an absolute frenzy in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.