Steelers Now
Former New York Jets and Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini does not believe Aaron Rodgers is fully committed to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The four-time NFL MVP taking nearly three months to sign with the Steelers leaves Mangini very skeptical.
“I don’t know if it’s me being cynical, but you had a lot of time to make a decision to become a Pittsburgh Steeler,” Mangini said on FS1’s First Things First. “You could’ve come in a little bit earlier, you could’ve gone to a few OTAs. You could’ve gotten a much more thorough understanding of the system so that this becomes that much more impactful.
“And didn’t he talk about how he’s trying to stay away from the media and keep things private? Then you have this, and you’re the one that posted on Instagram? It just seems a little bit disingenuous.”
“You had a lot of time to make a decision to become a Pittsburgh Steeler… It just seems a little bit disingenuous.”
Coach Mangini isn’t a fan of Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers receivers posting about their workout together in Malibu: pic.twitter.com/Dy5W0GzNjv
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) July 7, 2025
DK Metcalf, Pat Freiermuth, Calvin Austin III, Roman Wilson, Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek went out to Malibu to train with Rodgers last week. Rodgers missed time with his receivers in OTAs, but he’s heading into his 21st NFL season. It’s not like this is his first rodeo.
There’s a narrative attached to Rodgers that he isn’t the best teammate, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. New York Jets running back Breece Hall recently said on the Da Get Got Pod with Marshawn Lynch and Mike Robinson that the four-time NFL MVP was phenomenal in New York.
“Very misunderstood person,” Hall said. “Great dude, comes off to people a certain way. But once you really get to know him, you realize how good of a person he is. Last year, when you’re losing games, the blame gets put on the faces of the team, and it just so happened to be guys like me, Sauce [Gardner], Garrett [Wilson], Aaron [Rodgers], Quinnen [Williams], and Quincy [Williams].
“I feel like when you’re losing, somebody has to get let go — but what people don’t realize is when stuff is crazy organizationally, then it’s hard for players to have stability and win games. … But I love Aaron. Me and him still have a great relationship to this day. That’s my guy.”
Jets cornerbacK Sauce Gardner also recently praised Rodgers for his cerebral approach to the game. He knows the four-time MVP will be a massive challenge for the Jets in Week 1.
“I’m looking forward to it, because he might think he know all the tendencies that I have, but this offseason has really been me trying not to give nothing away, I’ve been trying to work on literally everything, because I already know I’m about to go against a wizard in Week...
