The New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers are both seemingly ready to sign former New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but he may be waiting to hear from a Minnesota Vikings team that went 14-3 this past season with Sam Darnold in the lineup.
While speaking with reporters Thursday about his decision to re-sign with the Giants, wide receiver Darius Slayton made it known he’d love for Rodgers to continue playing home games at MetLife Stadium for at least one more campaign.
“I think he is probably the greatest quarterback ever,” Slayton said about Rodgers, as shared by John Flanigan of SNY. “I have a ton of respect for him. I know once you get older in this league everyone loves to say you don’t really have it anymore, but I think he’s shown that he can still spin it. I think we have the tools to make a quarterback like him, or any veteran or rookie, successful.”
The Giants currently possess the third overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft and presumably could have a proven commodity such as Rodgers start over a rookie this fall. Mock drafts, some of which have included proposed trades, have linked the Giants with Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders and Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart.
As of Thursday, it remained unknown if the Vikings would start Rodgers for one season after 2024 first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy spent his entire rookie campaign recovering from a complete meniscus repair. Meanwhile, it’s practically a guarantee Rodgers would immediately become the QB1 for either the Giants or Steelers as soon as he signed a contract.
Rodgers already owns a home in New Jersey from his two-year tenure with the Jets.
“I would love to play with him,” Slayton added about Rodgers. “It’s not often in this league you get to play with a Hall of Fame quarterback. I had the pleasure of playing with one my rookie year (Eli Manning), and I think being able to play with two in a career is definitely not a blessing I could understate.”
Multiple Jets players have indicated throughout the winter they disagreed with the club’s decision to move on from Rodgers after he dealt with numerous injury issues from September 2023 through this past January. It doesn’t sound like Slayton heard anything negative about Rodgers from those who were his teammates over the past two seasons.