The Aaron Rodgers waiting game: Two QBs, three teams wait on Kevin O’Connell and Vikings’ call

By Michael Silver, Dianna Russini and Alec Lewis

Three days after becoming a free agent, Aaron Rodgers remains a quarterback without a team. As the four-time MVP ponders his next move, one thing has become clear: The person who currently holds the biggest sway over his playing future is Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell.

Advertisement

After conversations with more than a dozen league sources, this is where Rodgers, the Vikings and two other teams courting the 41-year-old quarterback — the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers — stand.

Rodgers is hoping to sign with the Vikings, who went 14-3 in 2024 before suffering a first-round playoff defeat to the Los Angeles Rams. Meanwhile, the Vikings have been strongly weighing the possibility of pursuing Rodgers as a replacement for 2024 starter Sam Darnold, who signed a three-year, $100 million free-agent deal Wednesday with the Seattle Seahawks.

Rodgers, in the wake of his release by the New York Jets, is seeking an annual salary in the same general range as Darnold’s — though that’s not expected to be a major stumbling block. O’Connell, the reigning NFL coach of the year, must decide whether he’s committed to bringing in the future first-ballot Hall of Famer, while considering the effect such a move could have on the growth of second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the 10th pick in the 2024 draft. To be sure, pursuing Rodgers would be an organizational decision, but O’Connell is the person with the most on the line, and it will only happen if he’s comfortable with the scenario.

McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season after suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee last August, had been considered the presumptive successor to Darnold. That would change if O’Connell were to go all-in with Rodgers, who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon in his 2023 Jets debut and had (by his standards) a subpar 2024 campaign, winning just five of his 17 starts.

Rodgers has been targeted by the Steelers and Giants but has essentially put both teams on hold while he waits for clarity regarding the Vikings’ situation. If Minnesota ceases to be an option, it’s also possible that Rodgers will turn down both the Steelers (a 2024 playoff team) and Giants and instead opt for retirement.

The bottom line: There are a lot of people waiting on Rodgers’ decision. And Rodgers, at least for now, is waiting on O’Connell.

Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who has worked in lockstep with O’Connell since both were hired three years ago, will defer to the coach’s choice of quarterbacks. The Wilfs have a 20-year track record of letting their top football executives and coaches make player-acquisition decisions and believe that O’Connell, who helped resurrect Darnold’s career in 2024, has a high level of expertise when it comes to assessing the sport’s most pivotal position.

Advertisement

The general assessment of Rodgers by Minnesota’s talent evaluators and coaches is that he remains a highly skilled passer who can still perform at a high level from the pocket, given the right supporting cast. Importantly, all parties believe that O’Connell is the decision-maker best equipped to know and understand what McCarthy’s mindset is, and how the young quarterback might react to Rodgers’ presence. O’Connell is also the person whose day-to-day reality would be most affected by such a move.

It’s easy to see why O’Connell would wrestle with the decision. The Vikings are built to win now, particularly after bolstering the roster with four significant free-agent additions: center Ryan Kelly and guard Will Fries, both formerly of the Indianapolis Colts, and defensive tackles Jonathan Allen (formerly of the Commanders) and Javon Hargrave (49ers). They also have a successful defensive coordinator, Brian Flores, who might receive head coaching interest in the next hiring cycle.

Rodgers, the MVP of Super Bowl XLV, took the Green Bay Packers to the postseason in 11 of his 14 seasons as their starting quarterback. If the goal is to win now — and if the organizational assessment of Rodgers’ current ability is accurate — signing him makes a lot of sense.

However, the Vikings remain very high on McCarthy, who led Michigan to the 2023 national championship and had an impressive preseason debut before injuring his knee. Bringing in Rodgers could create the impression there’s a lack of confidence in the young quarterback, who would be at risk of sitting for the entirety of two consecutive seasons to start his NFL career.

All of this falls on O’Connell, who would have to manage Rodgers’ big personality, the heightened expectations the quarterback’s presence would trigger and the media scrutiny that would follow. It’s a swing the coach may decide is well worth taking, but it’s not a decision he’ll make lightly.

Advertisement

For the Vikings’ fan base, seeking a chance to celebrate a Super Bowl championship after nearly six decades of futility, the signing of Rodgers would be a polarizing decision. It would evoke memories of Minnesota’s unlikely acquisition of another former Packers legend, Brett Favre, whose messy departure from Titletown in the summer of 2008 cemented Rodgers’ status as his successor. Favre was traded to the Jets before eventually joining the Vikings, who consider the Packers their fiercest rivals.

Rodgers could follow a similar path — with a chance to exceed Favre’s tremendous 2009 season, which ended with an overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game.

Whether Rodgers gets that opportunity will be primarily decided by a quarterback who threw six passes during his NFL career: O’Connell, a third-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 2008 who saw limited action after Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Three days into free agency, Rodgers, McCarthy, the Steelers and the Giants are among those waiting for O’Connell to make his choice.

(Photo: Naomi Baker / Getty Images)

Click here to read article