Rodgers Has the Steelers Frozen

Aaron Rodgers remains a mystery, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are stuck playing the waiting game heading into draft week.

Art Rooney said at the owner's meeting he expected to hear something from Rodgers before the draft. Instead, Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin faced reporters with the same tired answer. Communication has been positive. Nothing has changed. The decision is his.

Rich floats a playful scenario: Rodgers walks out on Thursday night, meets Roger Goodell at the podium, and announces his return to a Pittsburgh crowd on draft night. It would be a moment nobody could script better. It would also require Rodgers to tip his hand, which he has not shown any interest in doing.

The practical reality is simpler than the drama suggests. Whatever quarterback the Steelers pick at 21 is not beating out a healthy Rodgers. Even the top passer in this class probably does not start Week 1. The only Steeler quarterback who should feel threatened by a draft pick is Will Howard. So the front office can evaluate the board the way they always do, take the best player available, and let Rodgers decide on his own timeline.

Rich then delivers the parallel that has been rattling around in his head for weeks. He was there at the start of NFL Network 23 years ago covering the annual Brett Favre question. Is he staying? Is he going? Is he playing? Is he starting? That guy, Rich notes, is now Rodgers. The Steelers are the Vikings. Mike McCarthy is Mike McCarthy. Jordan Love is Aaron Rodgers. The Jets are, predictably, the Jets.

The kicker lands hard. McCarthy won his Super Bowl ring in Green Bay by beating the Steelers. Now he is Pittsburgh's head coach trying to win another one with the quarterback he beat them with. Omar Khan is Ted Thompson. The darkness retreat is the duck blind.

Rich thinks Rodgers plays again. He does not want last year in New York to be his final chapter. The new coach knows him, knows the system, and the current roster does not have a quarterback who can win now. That is the setup. Rodgers either accepts or he does not.

Time, as the crew notes, is a flat circle.