Former Steeler Rips Team’s Handling of Aaron Rodgers: ‘It Makes Me Sick’
Former Steelers safety Ryan Clark rips Pittsburgh for its mishandling of free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Many around the NFL are tired of waiting for free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers to make a decision. But former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark thinks his former team is to blame for allowing it to happen.
“It makes me sick, to be honest,” Clark said on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “Unless Omar (Khan), the general manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has some sort of promise or some sort of lean on Aaron Rodgers, believing that he is going to come back and play football, and if he does make that decision, he’s going to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, I feel like this has been mishandled already.”
“I feel like to be waiting or to be held hostage by a former quarterback of the New York Jets that’s actually never done anything for you, what has Aaron Rodgers done in the last two years or since leaving Green Bay that says he should be afforded this type of time,” Clark asked. “When I think about this decision, to me, it doesn’t matter what happens going forward. I think it’s been a bad play by the Pittsburgh Steelers already.”
It remains unclear when Rodgers is planning to finally make a decision, but the Steelers have remained confident they’ll eventually land him.
“We keep hearing that he’s, I guess, headed in our direction. That seems to be all signs are positive so far,” president Art Rooney II said. “We keep getting positive sort-of signals about it. I’d say we feel pretty good about it.”
Pittsburgh hasn’t given Rodgers any timeframe to make his decision, but many are beginning to wonder if the 2025 NFL Draft is the unspoken deadline.
Clark thinks that’s still too much time, even if it is true.
“I would give Aaron Rodgers a deadline,” Clark said. “And when I give him that deadline, it wouldn’t lead me into next week. I would need to know if you’re coming back to play or not this week, and more importantly, if you’re coming back to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
At this point, it seems unlikely Clark will get that wish, but the clock is ticking on Rodgers with just nine days until the Steelers could make the decision for him.