The saga might have ended, but the stories still run unbridled. Earlier this week, Aaron Rodgers‘ move to the Steelers was FINALLY announced after months of nail-biting suspense. Yet, like they say, the ghosts of the past can only leave you for so long. While the veteran quarterback was reported to have signed a one-year, $13.6 million contract (including $10 million guaranteed, which can go up to $19.5 million with incentives), a certain revelation about the QB and his Los Angeles Rams inclination seems to have taken the community by storm.

The conversation originally kick-started when multiple reports—amid Rodgers’ future team conundrum—indicated that the veteran was looking to stack up on a high-paying deal. And not just that. Others also reported that the 41-year-old had the Los Angeles Rams on the top of his list. However, during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show in April, the former Jets signal-caller had refuted, “I told every single [team] I talked to, ‘It ain’t about the money’. I’ll play for $10 million. I don’t care. I never once said I need a multi-year deal, $30-$40 million. That’s absolute bulls–t. I said I’d play for [$10 million].” 

While the QB is getting much more than what his asking price was, looks like the Rams’ cloud is far from gone from over his head.

As details of Rodgers’ latest contract started surfacing, his past with Sean McVay started surfacing. On June 6, NFL journalist Albert Breer confirmed once and for all, “For what it’s worth, I’d heard the $10 million number, at the time, was sort of exclusive to the Rams. As in, an example of how badly he wanted to go there in March—”He’s willing to go there for $10 million.”

For what it’s worth, I’d heard the $10 million number, at the time, was sort of exclusive to the Rams. As in, an example of how badly he wanted to go there in March—”He’s willing to go there for $10 million.” https://t.co/b8qJIXWQHo

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) June 7, 2025

Rodgers can technically claim he’s playing for $10 million guaranteed (true!), but that base $13.65 million becomes fully guaranteed Week 1. Barring something catastrophic, he’s getting at least that extra $3.65 million. Pittsburgh’s front office surely raised an eyebrow. That price tag? Seems it was exclusively reserved for sunny California dreams, not the hard-nosed reality of the AFC North. A $10 million bias, confirmed.

The number & the nod

This financial revelation landed just as Mike Tomlin made another major call. Forget the Lombardi whispers or depth chart shuffles – this decision was sartorial. Rodgers wouldn’t be donning the sacred #12, unofficially retired for Terry Bradshaw. Instead, he’d reclaim #8, the digit he wore in New York and at Cal. It’s a small gesture, but in Steeler Nation, numbers carry weight.

Tomlin, ever the master of managing men and moments, understood: handing Rodgers #12 would have been gasoline on Bradshaw’s already simmering public disapproval. #8 was the clean slate, the respectful nod to history while focusing on the future. ‘The standard is the standard,’ Tomlin often says. The standard in Pittsburgh demands respect for the past, even while chasing the next championship.

Rodgers, ever the intriguing character, fits this blue-collar ethos in his own unique way. This is the guy who recorded his own answering machine stats at Butte College (“6 ft tall, laser-rocket arm, 12 TDs”), a precursor to the ‘championship belt’ celebration that even made WWE’s Triple H take notice. He’s a Jeopardy!-winning, record-label-owning, ayahuasca-exploring enigma who also happens to hold the NFL’s top two single-season passer ratings (122.5 in 2011, 121.5 in 2020).

He’s seen more comebacks than an Elden Ring player facing ‘Malenia’ – the ‘Miracle in Motown,’ the ‘Run the Table’ prophecy fulfilled, playing on a broken leg against the Bears. His career stats – 503 TDs vs. 116 INTs (a ridiculous 4.56:1 ratio), 102.6 passer rating (best ever min. 1,500 attempts) – scream elite efficiency.

Tomlin’s culture, built on accountability and weathering adversity (‘Nothing builds a team like adversity’), needs that veteran poise. Can the 41-year-old gunslinger, rocking #8 and admittedly playing for more than his Rams fantasy price, summon one last act of gridiron poetry in Pittsburgh? The contract whispers bias, the number signals a new chapter, and the city demands its flicker of hope become a blaze. The Hail Mary maestro is here. The AFC North just got infinitely more interesting.