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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers
GREEN BAY − Aaron Rodgers is not hanging up the cleats just yet. The future Hall of Fame quarterback will play for the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2025 season, according to several reports. Rodgers, 41, agreed to a one-year deal to play for the one of the NFL's historic franchises. The former Green Bay Packers star will get a chance to play against his old team when the Steelers host the Packers in a Week 8 night game Oct. 26. Advertisement Buy our Aaron Rodgers book Before signing with the Steelers, Rodgers gave no clear sign of his future plans. In an appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast last month, Rodgers said people close to him are battling health issues. "I've been in the weeds with these people who are close to me that have cancer," Rodgers told Rogan. This comes a month after Rodgers made comments on the Pat McAfee Show explaining the reason for his delay in signing with a team was taking time to deal with 'off-the-field stuff." 'I am trying to be open to everything and not specifically attached to anything when it comes to this decision,' Rodgers said to McAfee. 'I'm just going through a lot in my personal life that has to take precedent at this point." Advertisement Rodgers, surely a lock as a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer, will don the black and yellow looking to prove he can still compete at a high level as he enters his 21st season in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers gets a chance at redemption The legend of Rodgers grew from his 18-year career with the Green Bay Packers. A first-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Cal, Rodgers was selected as the future replacement for Brett Favre. After three years as Favre's backup, Rodgers took the reins as the Packers starter in 2008 and never looked back. Check out: Netflix documentary unveils side of Brett Favre many fans would rather not know about Advertisement During his time as the starter, he won Super Bowl XLV and was the game's MVP. Ironically, Rodgers won his first and only ring beating the Steelers 31-25. He's a four-time NFL MVP (2011, 2014, 2020, 2021) and just the fifth player to win the award in consecutive seasons. Known for his clutch plays and efficient playmaking, Rodgers ranks first on the NFL's all-time regular-season career passing rating list with at 102.6. After a remarkable run in Green Bay, the past two seasons with the New York Jets were less than stellar. Rodgers signed with the Jets in April 2023 and his first season in New York ended as quickly as it started. Making his debut in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football at MetLife Stadium, Rodgers suffered an Achilles tendon rupture on just his fourth snap after taking a sack from Leonard Floyd. He underwent surgery and was placed on injured reserve, missing the entire season. Rodgers returned to action in 2024, but it was a tumultuous season. Jets head coach Robert Saleh was fired after five games. General manager Joe Douglas also was fired in late November. The Jets finished the year 5-12, the most losses for Rodgers in a season as a starter. A look at the 2025 Pittsburgh Steelers The Steelers are searching for answers at quarterback. The team went 10-7 in 2024 and lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC wild-card round. Advertisement Last season, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields competed for the starting job with Wilson eventually winning out. During free agency this offseason, Wilson signed a one-year deal with the New York Giants. Fields had joined the Jets on a two-year deal. Pittsburgh drafted Ohio State's Will Howard in the sixth round of this year's draft and added Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson during the offseason. The Steelers are one of the best organizations in all pro sports but searching for their first AFC championship since 2010 and Super Bowl since 2008. Rodgers gets his shot to end his career on a high note. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Aaron Rodgers to sign with Pittsburgh Steelers, continuing NFL career
USA Today
05-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Aaron Rodgers signing with Steelers, will face Packers in 2025
Aaron Rodgers signing with Steelers, will face Packers in 2025 Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has made a decision: the future Hall of Famer is planning to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of the team's mandatory minicamp, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Rodgers' decision means he'll face his former team for the first time during the regular season in 2025. The Packers and Steelers are scheduled to face off in a Week 8 primetime game on Sunday, Oct. 26 in Pittsburgh. Rodgers, a first-round pick of the Packers in 2005, played a team-record 18 seasons in Green Bay before being traded to the New York Jets in 2023, clearing the way for Jordan Love to take over as the starting quarterback. Rodgers, 41, was released by the Jets after a disappointing two-year stretch in New York. The Packers, meanwhile, have made the postseason in back-to-back seasons under Love and coach Matt LaFleur. Rodgers and the Steelers will open the season against new starter Justin Fields and the Jets on Sunday, Sept. 7. Rodgers has played 20 NFL seasons. He threw 28 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions for the 5-11 Jets in 2024. He has 503 career touchdown passes and 116 interceptions and holds the NFL record for touchdown-to-interception ratio.
NBC Sports
14-04-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
More than five months later, Dak Prescott's hamstring still hasn't completely healed
Most hamstring injuries heal in weeks. For Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, it's been more than five months. It happened as he was throwing a pass during a Week 8 game at Atlanta, on November 3. As Chris Simms explained during Monday's PFT Live, Prescott's unconventional throwing motion likely puts extra stress on the upper hamstring/lower butt area. Here's the throw that caused the injury. While Prescott recently said he could play in. agame if he had to, it's also clear he's not yet 100 percent. 'I'm getting close to where I want to be,' Prescott said. 'I don't want to put a percentage on it. I know we got team activities coming up. I imagine myself being involved in some sort, if not all. Then again, understanding my age and what I've been through, it's about being ready for the fall. I'm not rushing anything, but I'm where I want to be.' It's a hamstring injury. Not a torn ACL. Not a ruptured Achilles tendon. Which suggests it was a serious hamstring injury. Beyond the fact that the recovery, as hamstring injuries go, was a long one is the question of whether it could happen again, absent major changes to his process for throwing the ball. The Cowboys recently acquired Joe Milton III in a trade with the Patriots. Milton becomes the likely understudy to Prescott, who missed nine games last year after the hamstring injury.
USA Today
12-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Caleb Williams: Bears were 'annoyed' by how Matt Eberflus handled Hail Mary loss
Caleb Williams: Bears were 'annoyed' by how Matt Eberflus handled Hail Mary loss The Chicago Bears are gearing up for a new era with first-time head coach Ben Johnson following a disastrous 5-12 season that resulted in Matt Eberflus' firing after Thanksgiving. After a promising 4-2 start, Eberflus sealed his fate in a Week 8 game agains the Washington Commanders that resulted in a gut-wrenching Hail Mary loss. To make matters worse, Eberflus publicly defended his decision to not call a timeout in the final two plays that led to the 18-15 loss. And according to quarterback Caleb Williams, it didn't sit well among those in the locker room. 'How [Eberflus] handled it at that time, for that game, was, I think, one of the things that throughout the locker room people talked about and were annoyed by,' Williams said in an interview with Esquire, via the Chicago Sun-Times. Unfortunately, that Hail Mary loss wasn't the low point. The Bears went on to lose 10 straight games, including blowing games against the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions due to coaching malpractice. Throughout it all, there were locker room issues due to the lack of accountability among the coaching staff, including how former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who was fired after nine games, had to be asked by players to coach them harder. The final nail in the Eberflus coffin was an embarrassment on Thanksgiving, where he failed to call a timeout that resulted in a loss to the Lions. The next day, Eberflus was relieved of his duties. It was the first time the Bears had ever fired a head coach in the middle of a season. It was a less than ideal situation for No. 1 pick Williams, who played behind arguably the worst offensive line that allowed a league-high 68 sacks, while playing for two different head coaches and three different offensive coordinators. But looking back, Williams believes his chaotic rookie season was beneficial. 'I think those losses were pretty important for me and my growth,' Williams said. 'To go on a losing streak, to be in this position and be at the helm of it, was definitely important for me. Just being able to see how I need to be when times are bad. . . . I'm going to work my tail off to never be in that situation again.' While Johnson hasn't coached an NFL game yet, there's already a feeling and belief in the locker room, and among the fans, that he can be the guy to finally turn things around. Hiring Johnson as head coach is a defining move that also signifies that Williams' development is of utmost importance. Follow Bears Wire on Twitter and Facebook
New York Times
13-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Why Evan Engram is far more than a marriage of convenience with the Broncos
Sean Payton didn't see the big play from his tight end coming. It certainly wasn't designed with Adam Trautman in mind. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix took the red-zone snap in the second quarter of a Week 8 game against the Carolina Panthers last season, dropped straight back and began scanning the field. He had Courtland Sutton running a post, Marvin Mims bursting into the flat and tight end Nate Adkins running a short to the sideline. Advertisement And then there was Trautman, running up the seam, seemingly more decoy than end-zone target. 'If you would've given me our roster (and asked me) to dot who I think scores on that play,' Payton said after the game, '(Trautman) would've been near the middle to the bottom.' Happy #NationalTightEndsDay to all who celebrate! 📺: CBS — Denver Broncos (@Broncos) October 27, 2024 Payton was specifically discussing that play — a 19-yard touchdown dart from Nix that Trautman hauled in with one hand — but he could have been talking about the involvement of his tight ends in the passing game at large the past two seasons. No team has had fewer receptions or yards from the tight end spot since the start of the 2023 season. That raw data explains, in a macro sense, why the Broncos reached an agreement on a two-year, $23 million contract with Evan Engram on Wednesday, a deal confirmed by league sources. The Broncos needed far more receiving production at tight end so they went out and added the most productive player at the position available in free agency. But this wasn't simply a marriage of convenience. Payton has been looking for something specific out of the role Engram will now fill as a Joker player, a description he described in detail during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last month. 'I use that term for when you have one of those guys who are matchup challenges inside,' Payton said. 'It really helps you (on) third down and (in the) red zone. There are ways defensively you can handle the outside receivers and force the ball inside. That is something we will look closely at.' GO DEEPER Broncos free agency tracker: TE Evan Engram fills a play-making need Only the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants targeted their tight ends less on third down last season than the Broncos did. Denver had -0.60 expected points added (EPA) per dropback on third-down throws to tight ends, tied for the worst mark in the NFL, according to TruMedia. The Broncos since 2023 have 21 receptions from tight ends on third down in 34 regular-season games, by far the fewest mark in the league. Engram has 37 such receptions — in 26 games. Advertisement Engram, despite missing nine games due to injury last season, ranks eighth among all tight ends since 2023 in third-down targets (48) and is fourth in reception percentage on those throws (77.1 percent). Part of Engram's success stems from his ability to be moved around the formation and schemed out of different alignments. Review his play log of third-down receptions and you'll see him flare into the flat from a tight slot formation, catch a quick zip pass from the quarterback and run after the catch for a first down. You'll see him motion in from the far outside, dart toward the middle between a linebacker and a safety and make a catch in a tight window, using his 6-foot-3, 240-pound frame to wall off defenders. You'll see him line up just off the right side of the tackle, then slip through tight traffic as he works his way to the end zone, as he did during a touchdown play against the Cleveland Browns in 2023. Jags on the board with a TD to Evan Engram! 📺: #JAXvsCLE on CBS📱: Stream on #NFLPlus — NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2023 You see Engram consistently win his routes on third downs in various matchups. That's a presence the Broncos simply didn't have in their offense. It doesn't come cheap. The $11.5 million in average annual value on Engram's contract ranks 10th in the league among tight ends, according to Over The Cap. But when you are purchasing an entirely new element for your offense — and a comforting security blanket for the young quarterback — it's a wise investment in any economy. Now let's talk about the other area in which Payton believes a player like Engram can stress defenses: the red zone. Only the Giants and Dallas Cowboys targeted tight ends less inside the 20-yard line last season than the Broncos, who threw only nine such passes to players at the position. It's another data point that gives credence to Payton's surprised reaction when Nix hit Trautman for the touchdown against the Panthers. GO DEEPER Broncos' signings of Dre Greenlaw, Talanoa Hufanga are risks worth taking Yet, the Broncos were highly efficient when they did incorporate tight ends in that part of the field. Nix threw five touchdown passes among those nine tight end targets and his EPA per dropback on red-zone throws to tight ends ranked fifth in the league. Much of that was a result of crafty play design, such as when the Broncos leaked the seldom-targeted Nate Adkins out of an inline stance, pushed the pocket to the right and allowed Nix to throw back across the field to Adkins for a wide-open touchdown. Engram will give Payton another chess piece to scheme with in that critical area of the field, but he will also give Nix an athletic target to look for when things don't go exactly to plan. Engram's 0.28 EPA per red-zone target ranks 14th in the NFL since 2021 — a better mark than Kansas City's Travis Kelce (0.25) — and his ability to high-point the ball and snare it in tight windows should be a big benefit for Denver's offense. There's no better example than Engram's game-tying touchdown catch in the fourth quarter of a game against the Green Bay Packers last season. LAWRENCE TO ENGRAM TO TIE IT 🫨 📺: #GBvsJAX on FOX📱: — NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024 It won't be a surprise for Payton next season when the ball ends up in the tight end's hands in those third-down and red-zone situations the Broncos have targeted as major improvement priorities. It was the whole point of Denver's critical pursuit of Engram, the mismatch-creating Joker that Payton has needed. 'I've played Sean's teams that have had them,' Broncos general manager George Paton said of the Engram-type players Payton coached in New Orleans, 'and they're hell.'
