Former Steelers CB repeats warning to Aaron Rodgers about springtime workouts

Former Pittsburgh Steelers safety and Super Bowl champion Mike Logan recently made it known that he and at least some of his teammates "wouldn't have tolerated" the uncertainty regarding Aaron Rodgers' future lasting through so much of the club's offseason program.

During a Monday appearance on CBS Sports HQ, former Steelers cornerback and current NFL analyst Bryant McFadden somewhat echoed Logan's take. 

"I would feel some type of way because this is the first part of structuring a playoff-caliber team right now," McFadden said about Rodgers potentially planning on signing with Pittsburgh either late into springtime workouts or after mandatory minicamp wraps up, as shared by Ross McCorkle of Steelers Depot. "[Organized team activities], now granted, they're not mandatory, but you are allowed to have as many players there as possible. Especially key components to your team. And we're talking about the quarterback position. So even if I played on the defensive side of the football field, I would feel some type of way, man. ...We would like our quarterback to be there."

Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger is among the noteworthy individuals associated with the franchise who have also voiced strong opinions about the fact that Rodgers should want to build chemistry with new teammates while learning the system run by offensive coordinator Arthur Smith ahead of Pittsburgh's summer break. Even if Rodgers had signed a contract with the Steelers before players reported for the start of OTA practices on Tuesday, he'd be behind compared to where fellow signal-caller Mason Rudolph is on the morning of May 27 as it pertains to running Smith's offense. 

Rudolph first played for Pittsburgh from 2018-23, and he re-signed with the club in March. 

Ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, Pittsburgh pass-rusher Alex Highsmith insisted that the "will he or won't he?" Rodgers-related storyline hasn't been a distraction for those who have been inside the Steelers' facility this spring. 

On Monday, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio noted that any Pittsburgh players who are upset that Rodgers has remained a free agent while others have been hard at work preparing for the 2025 season will experience a change of heart once he "grabs a football and rifles it unlike most of the players on the field have ever seen — or heard — a football thrown before" during practices. 

The Steelers have six OTA practices scheduled from Tuesday through June 5 leading up to their mandatory minicamp that is set to run from June 10-12. While it still seems to be a matter of when and not if Rodgers will become Pittsburgh's QB1 for the 2025 campaign, it's fair to wonder if some of his to-be teammates are annoyed that he hasn't given the franchise an official commitment as of Tuesday morning.