Aaron Rodgers pursuit won't impact Steelers' 2025 NFL Draft plans, Mike Tomlin says

As the Aaron Rodgers free agency saga winds on and on, and the veteran signal caller continues to sit in sensory deprivation rooms or doing ayahuasca in between Pat McAfee Show segments, one interested party isn't going to let the quarterback's dallying impact their plans.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday that Rodgers won't impact the teams plans in the 2025 NFL Draft, according to ESPN's Brooke Pryor.

"It does not," Tomlin said, when asked if Rodgers' lack of decision alters Pittsburgh's draft plans on Tuesday. But, the head coach noted that the draft could alter their free agency plans.

"I think what you do in the draft oftentimes affects maybe some talent acquisition that happens after," Tomlin said. "We'll see how the acquisition goes this weekend."

Rodgers and the Steelers have been engaged in a prolonged dance throughout the offseason; they've met multiple times, and the veteran passer has expressed interest in playing there, although it's still unclear if he plans to retire or not. For their part, the quarterback-desperate Steelers have been patient and understanding with Rodgers, while also looking at options for the future. They've met with Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough and Kyle McCord as they search for a potential passer in the Draft.

Pittsburgh holds the 21st overall pick, and have yet to be linked to any trades up, likely due to the uninspiring nature of the vast majority of this quarterback class. Of the rookies they've met with, they have been most frequently linked with Sanders, who projects as a mid-to-late first round pick, and Dart, whose projections see him going anywhere from the late first round into the third round, depending on how things shake out.

If things break the right way for Pittsburgh, and Sanders falls to them, it's entirely possible they take the Colorado quarterback and tell Rodgers that they're no longer interested in him, or could bring him in on a shorter-term deal to give Sanders time to acclimate to the NFL before throwing him to the fire.

Either way, it seems like Tomlin and the Steelers aren't lookig to be overly rash, and have a plan for the Draft no matter how it goes.

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