Tim Benz: Aaron Rodgers situation is now more about saving face for Steelers than it is the football calendar

I want to thank ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio. He sat through an entire three-hour appearance by Aaron Rodgers on Joe Rogan’s podcast and took notes.

So we don’t have to.

I don’t always agree with Florio’s opinions or presentation. But that’s doing God’s work, my friends.

Thanks, Mike.

Furthermore, Florio endured all that to hear absolutely nothing about Rodgers’ looming football decision. According to Florio’s post, the only hint Rodgers gave about his on-field future was that he is thinking about “getting out” of California and that a “number of people” in his life are battling cancer.

Perhaps those are the “personal issues” Rodgers was referring to on the “Pat McAfee Show” last month that have prevented him from committing to playing football in 2025.

Presumably for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Meanwhile, Art Rooney II spoke to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler about the ongoing wait for a decision from Rodgers this week at the NFL’s owners meetings. Back on April 1, the Steelers’ president stated the team would wait “not forever, but a little while longer” for Rodgers to make up his mind.

When Fowler asked for an update, Rooney II said, “A little while longer. I’ll say the same thing,”

#Steelers president Art Rooney II -- who said April 1 that the Steelers will wait "not forever, but a little while longer" for Aaron Rodgers -- delivered a similar line on his way out of Wednesday's owners meetings.

"A little while longer. I'll say the same thing," he said.

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) May 22, 2025

Free agency opened in early March. We’re now at Memorial Day weekend. It’s already been more than “a little while.” So what is Rooney’s definition of “a little while longer” now?

Organized team activities next week? Mini-camp in early June? Training camp in July?

Actually, forget I asked. It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?

At this point, acquiring Rodgers whenever the Steelers acquire him is no longer about the football calendar. Whenever Rodgers gets here — if he comes at all — the offense with him will be behind.

Now it’s just a matter of how much and how quickly he can catch up.

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The Steelers can’t get back the time they spent wondering about Rodgers during free agency. They can’t reevaluate the “what if” scenarios from the draft.

Maybe they wouldn’t have done anything differently. The Steelers may well have taken Derrick Harmon in the first round, even if they had found out that Rodgers was going to retire. Maybe Jaxson Dart still winds up a Giant and Shedeur Sanders still waits until Saturday before he is drafted.

It’s entirely possible they still don’t pursue Sam Darnold, and Justin Fields and Russell Wilson still wind up in New York anyway. It could’ve been Mason Rudolph’s job to lose in Pittsburgh, regardless.

Whatever. I’m sick of the hypotheticals at this point.

Let’s just be blunt. What this story is about now is simply the Steelers saving face.

The Steelers have allowed Rodgers to drag out this process this long. Whatever difference in the standings he makes won’t be close to the difference in perception that will exist if he doesn’t sign.

Right now, nationally, the Steelers look like they are being played. If Rodgers signs eventually, it can at least be characterized as a meandering means to an end — and nothing worse.

Then, if Rodgers succeeds or fails, it simply becomes a football decision that pays off or doesn’t.

If he doesn’t sign, though, then the once-proud Steelers franchise looks like nothing but a bunch of chumps. That goes for Rooney, Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan and the logo itself. Even if nothing would’ve changed on the QB depth chart if Rodgers had never been part of the conversation, that doesn’t matter.

The narrative will be that Tomlin, Rooney and Khan had all their eggs in Aaron Rodgers’ basket.

And they walked away with egg on their faces instead.