It's nearly May and the Aaron Rodgers updates continue with no firm timeline on a resolution.
Steelers owner Art Rooney II was asked about his team's decision to place an unrestricted free agent tender on Rodgers, but only after providing the same "we've been in contact with Aaron on a regular basis" that Rooney and general manager Omar Khan have repeated for weeks.
"The main thing that the tender gives us is the potential for a comp(ensatory) pick if Aaron would choose to go to another team," Rooney explained in a Wednesday interview with NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero and NFL senior national columnist Judy Battista on NFL Network's The Insiders. "We don't expect that, but by the same token, you never know. It's just something we had an opportunity to protect if needed.
"The deadline was Monday, so if we were going to do it we had to pull the trigger on Monday. We alerted Aaron and his representative that we were going to do it, and so not a real big deal. Just something that in the unlikely event he goes somewhere else, we are eligible for a comp pick."
The Steelers' UFA tender grants them the right to match any offer sheet signed by Rodgers elsewhere, provides the Steelers with possible compensation in the form of a late third-round draft pick, and also grants them exclusive negotiating rights with Rodgers on either July 22 or the first scheduled day of training camp. As Rooney said, the move was made for insurance, not necessarily to apply any pressure on Rodgers as they continue to wait for a decision from the 42-year-old quarterback.
Another way Pittsburgh helped protect itself was by selecting Drew Allar in the third round of last weekend's draft, which previously served as the team's target to hear an answer from Rodgers.
Rodgers marched past the Steelers' envisioned deadline -- which Rodgers himself said in March didn't exist -- and continues to make Pittsburgh wait as he mulls his future. It's widely expected he'll return to the Steelers eventually if he doesn't decide to retire altogether, but he certainly isn't hurrying
That doesn't seem to bother Rooney or the Steelers.
"He's been keeping us up to date on his plans," Rooney said. "Even though I thought it probably would have been concluded by now, I think we will come to a conclusion here in the next few weeks."
We'll see if this prediction comes true for the Steelers, unlike Rooney's previous prognostication.
