Aaron Rodgers is weighing whether he wants to become a father for the first time before making a decision on returning to the NFL for another season.
The veteran quarterback, 42, has yet to tell new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy whether he will return for a second season in Pittsburgh – and the 22nd year of a remarkable career.
The Steelers have taken advantage of a rarely used NFL rule – a right-of-first-refusal tender – to protect themselves and last month drafted Penn State quarterback Drew Allar to strengthen their options.
But Daily Mail understands Rodgers’ dilemma centers around starting a family with his mysterious wife Brittani, who has still not been identified 12 months after their wedding.
A source told The Daily Mail: ‘The reason that the Steelers made the move to put the tender on Aaron Rodgers was because of other teams having interest in him, including the Arizona Cardinals.
‘But the chances of Aaron joining the Cardinals are extremely slim. Right now, his options are to either become a dad or return to the Steelers for one more go.
The quarterback stunned fans when he unveiled a wedding band on his finger last summer
Now he is weighing whether he wants to become a father for the first time before making a decision on returning to the NFL for another season
‘Aaron is still weighing his options, as there are familiar coaches in both Pittsburgh and Arizona that Aaron has worked with in the past, but Aaron is being Aaron and not showing his hand.’
The source continued: ‘The Steelers don’t feel they are being held hostage just yet but if Aaron doesn’t commit in the next few months and retires, they would feel burned.’
Rodgers first revealed in June last year that he had been married for ‘a couple of months’, placing the wedding in around March or April 2025, but he was scant on details.
He declined to name who he married, although he said in a December 2024 episode of the Pat McAfee Show that he was dating someone named Brittani, who was a ‘private person,’ at the time.
Rodgers has never been seen in public with his wife, who remains one of the NFL’s biggest mysteries, with even his teammates and their partners describing her as a ‘phantom.’
In March, Rodgers fumed over ‘obsessed’ fans who were trying to identify his mystery wife, branding their behavior ‘f***ing bizarre.’
‘The obsession is f***ing bizarre, that’s the only way to put it,’ he said on The Pat McAfee Show. ‘The obsession is really bizarre. You guys know, you laughed about this many times, you showed pictures of it… we’re not living at the beach anymore.
‘Part of it is, I have legitimate stalkers. I don’t say that lightly or flippantly, I’ve been getting stalked at my house for a year and a half, stalked at the coffee shop, at the gym at Pro Active. The paparazzi was flying drones over my house, I’ve learned that it’s had a bounty on getting a picture of my wife, which I think is very bizarre as well.
Despite the very visible wedding band, Rodgers’ wife has still never been seen in public
Rodgers once dated racing driver Danica Patrick (left) and actress Shailene Woodley (right)
‘I understand the attention that comes with somebody that’s accomplished what I’ve accomplished, so in no way am I making this a “woe is me”. But when it comes to your personal safety, it’s not just me… it’s me and her, and it’s really f***ing bizarre.’
He continued: ‘When we met back in 2017, I know there was something crazy special about this, and I wanted to be with her,’ he added. ‘She would make funny comments like, “I would never live in Green Bay”, and “I don’t want to be a players’ wife”.
‘She’s just not a public person. Then she moved back across the pond and I got myself into crazy town.’
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter last month, Rodgers can accept a 10 percent raise off last year’s Steelers salary, which would pay him about $15million this season, because of the right-of-first-refusal tender.
It also means Rodgers would only be able to sign with the Steelers once training camp begins.
Back in March, Rodgers revealed there was no deadline for him to decide his future and indicated that he was in no rush to do so.
‘Free agency starts in a week,’ he said. ‘I’ve talked to Mike, I’ve talked to [Steelers general manager] Omar [Khan]. There’s been no deadline that’s been put in front of me.
‘There’s no contract offer or anything,’ he continued. ‘So there’s nothing I’m having to debate between. I’m a free agent. Again, I’m enjoying my time with my wife and enjoying this part of the offseason. I think there’s conversations to be had down the line.’
Rodgers, a four-time MVP, has yet to tell new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy if he will return
New Steelers star Michael Pittman Jr. also recently said he believes Rodgers does want to keep playing at the age of 42.
The former Indianapolis Colts receiver revealed that he saw Rodgers recently and – though they didn’t discuss the quarterback’s future – Pittman said he believes Rodgers is not ready to retire.
‘I think he wants to play,’ he said. ‘But I don’t really know – I mean, Aaron is a mysterious guy, right?
‘So he’s going to do whatever he thinks is right and, and if that’s coming back and playing, then that’s great. And if it’s not, we have two other guys [Will Howard and Mason Rudolph]… who are ready to hop in there.’
Pittman continued: ‘I’ve worked out with him in the past and then I saw him about a month and a half ago. We didn’t really talk football. We were just chilling. I didn’t want to put extra pressure on him, and I don’t honestly think I could convince him either way – so we didn’t really talk ball.’
