Aaron Rodgers nearly became a Viking. At least, that was the headline in March, as the four-time MVP explored his next move. According to NFL insider Mike Silver, Rodgers’ camp made contact with Minnesota early in the offseason. And it wasn’t a courtesy call. As Silver put it: “Aaron Rodgers’s first choice is to play for the Vikings.”Minnesota, at the time, had questions at the quarterback position. Sam Darnold had signed with Seattle. Daniel Jones took a one-year deal with the Colts. J.J. McCarthy was still rehabbing after missing his entire rookie season. The idea of adding Rodgers wasn’t far-fetched. He had a long-standing relationship with Kevin O’Connell, a fellow former quarterback from California. The two stayed in touch throughout the spring. According to O’Connell, they had “a lot of great dialogue” about what a potential pairing could look like.But interest didn’t equal action. Rodgers never visited, and no offer was made. The Vikings took trade calls on McCarthy and passed. Inside the building, the commitment to their 2024 first-round pick never wavered. As GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah put it at the time, the front office was “feeling good about where we’re going.” That meant building around McCarthy, not making room for Rodgers.O’Connell later confirmed as much publicly, telling reporters he had an “obligation” to give McCarthy a real runway to start and grow. The Rodgers conversation ended there. The HC addressed his conversation with Rodgers, along with his friendship and the respect that he has for the 41-year-old quarterback. “When there was an opportunity — when him (Rodgers) and I connected this offseason just to kind of talk about what that would look like—we had a lot of great dialogue about it, but it always was centered around what was best not only for the present in the Minnesota Vikings organization, but the future,” Coach O’Connell explained.#Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell talks about his discussions with Aaron Rodgers in the offseason and what he thinks about the veteran QB@iHeartRadio pic.twitter.com/UvzCGG51T7— KFAN1003 (@KFAN1003) June 6, 2025Rodgers seemed a top contender for the Vikings’ QB room, given that Darnold had already left the town and McCarthy was coming from a rookie season-ending injury. But the Vikings’ organization promised McCarthy an opportunity in his second year, as he was yet to make his debut in the pros. And just like that, the Vikings-Rodgers deal was off the table.O’Connell went on, “I was very honest about my feelings toward J.J., my obligation that I felt like we were going to give him the best possible situation to begin and thrive on this NFL journey, and let’s see where it goes. We stayed in touch and had some communication.” Having said that, the Vikings are set to start their 2025 season with JJ McCarthy, and the second-year quarterback is certainly excited to start his era in Minnesota.As for Rodgers, who many predicted would follow Brett Favre’s footsteps, Coach O’Connell admitted that he’s still in contact with the veteran QB. “Out of respect for our friendship and everything, that’s about as much as really kind of happened. I still talk to him and the next time I talk to him it’s going to be the same old, same old. He’s different than people probably think, but I think that’s all part of it in this day and age,” he said.Long story short: it’s been almost three months since the free agency kicked off, and now we finally get to know about the Vikings’ conversation with Rodgers. And to make it more interesting, Rodgers is finally ready to sign his next deal.Aaron Rodgers is set to don black and goldFor almost three months, frustration was brewing in the Steel City. Aaron Rodgers visited the Steelers‘ facility back in March, and everyone was hoping for a one-year deal. But the deal didn’t happen. Just verbal agreements, as both parties were on the same page. But they just didn’t want to put pen to paper. Rodgers ghosted the Steelers, claiming that he’s currently focusing on his personal life.And amidst all this, the rumor mill was buzzing that the 41-year-old QB might consider retirement rather than signing a deal with Pittsburgh. But on Thursday, Rodgers finally put a halt to all the speculations as the four-time MVP is now ready to sign a deal with Mike Tomlin and Co. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday that Aaron Rodgers informed the Steelers to sign a deal with them.According to the reports, Rodgers will fly to Pittsburgh on Friday, sign a deal, and join the team during the Steelers’ mandatory minicamp next week. The news sounds even astonishing, given that Rodgers missed out on the Jets’ mandatory mini-camp last year. And get this, when that happened, social media lit up with NFL reports and analysts calling out the veteran quarterback on missing out on the team’s min-camp,Fast forward to now, and Rodgers is yet again the center of attention, but for good reasons. Not in New York, but in Pittsburgh. The Steelers had been spearheading Rodgers’ free agency ever since they parted ways with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. To spice things up, when they ditched a top-tier quarterback in the NFL draft, their decision sparked curiosity and negative reactions, as the team was dragging its feet on the signing of Rodgers.But the silver lining is that Rodgers is now all set to don black and gold. One last ride? You can say it.The post Kevin O’Connell Officially Reveals Talks With Aaron Rodgers to Join Vikings After Steelers Signing appeared first on EssentiallySports.