Did The Steelers Just Reconfirm The Deadline For Adding Aaron Rodgers Is The Start Of Training Camp?

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan answered the question on Tuesday before it was asked.

"I know you’re going to ask about the quarterback position," Khan said during the team's pre-draft press conference. "I’ll just tell you guys the same thing we discussed in Palm Beach [at the NFL annual meetings] a couple of weeks ago. We go to camp with four quarterbacks. Right now, we have two on the roster. And all options are on the table on how we acquire the last two. I assure you we’ll have four when we get to [training camp at] Latrobe."

That makes sense, but hold on a minute.

CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 22: Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan looks on prior to a game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 22, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

Omar Khan Points To Training Camp

For quite some time, people have been discussing the timing of Aaron Rodgers making a decision about his future. There have been and still are questions about which team he's going to play for in 2025, if any, because retirement is also an option.

So, why hasn't Rodgers decided?

How long can the Steelers, the only obvious option right now, wait?

What's the holdup?

Timing is an important thing to a lot of people and for some time (pardon the pun) all parties involved have declined to get into timing specifics.

But on Tuesday, Khan addressed timing in his opening remarks. To paraphrase, he said the Steelers will have their four quarterbacks when they get to training camp in late July. That's three months away.

It's not two days away when the NFL draft begins Thursday evening.

It's not the club's OTA sessions during the last week of May and first week of June. 

And it's not the Steelers' mandatory minicamp on June 10-12.

Mike Tomlin Clarifies Past Comment

Reading into Khan's comment, the Steelers' drop-dead date for the Rodgers deal is the start of training camp. Or the day before.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has also previously pointed to the start of training camp as "a line of demarcation" for the Rodgers saga to play out, although he clarified Tuesday he doesn't know if he was talking about Rodgers specifically.

"In general, when you report to training camp, it's a line of demarcation for development of a group, individually and collectively," Tomlin said.

Clarification or not the date is the start of training camp.

Rodgers said last week he feels no pressure to give anyone any sort of date-certain on when he's going to make up his mind.

So, all of this opens the process for a bunch of hand wringing and speculation because, well, we might be in for a long wait if Khan picked the start of training camp specifically because he believes his team can wait that long, if necessary.

We don't know that's what he meant because he was not specifically asked why he picked the start of training camp as the time by which he must have the team's four quarterbacks.

Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Trainin Camp Timing Not Optimal

But if he picked that date intentionally, it signals things:

Firstly, it puts all parties involved in a position that isn't necessarily optimal.

Yes, the Steelers would see it as a victory if they wait and are eventually rewarded with Rodgers signing on. But if he does it closer to camp rather than before the offseason's usual preparation periods, he'll be behind.

Rodgers has never been in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's system so he would be learning on the fly at the start of training camp. That means he'd have catching up to do with the quarterbacks who were with the team in the offseason.

Rodgers will be unable to build the usual amount of cohesion and chemistry with his pass catchers that most quarterbacks work to hone during the offseason – unless, of course, he does more throwing sessions with DK Metcalf and others.

So, again, not the best.

Khan made the point that the fact Rodgers isn't on the roster now doesn't affect his draft strategy, a point that was reported by OutKick last week.

And the message was the 2025 quarterback draft class is a good one. 

So there's nothing that would preclude the Steelers from eventually picking a quarterback and still waiting on Rodgers.

Perhaps until the start of training camp.