2025 NFL free agency: If Vikings are entirely out of Aaron Rodgers market, there’s one move that will seal it

As the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants continue to sit and stare at a handful of less-than-stellar quarterback options for the 2025 season, the Minnesota Vikings are allegedly moving forward with their chosen starter: 2024 first-round pick draft J.J. McCarthy. That would seem to close the door on an Aaron Rodgers pursuit — except that it doesn’t.

There’s still one significant piece of business that remains unresolved.

Signing an experienced backup to pair with McCarthy next season.

Right into this week, the Vikings have given every indication they want another experienced quarterback paired with McCarthy — first extending a short-term offer to Sam Darnold, which he turned down before signing with the Seattle Seahawks, and then with an attempt to retain Daniel Jones on a one-year deal, which he turned down to sign with the Indianapolis Colts. Then came the latest consideration of a Rodgers pursuit, which a league source said prompted at least two teams to inquire about whether the Vikings would be open to trading McCarthy.

That answer was no. But the answer to whether the Rodgers pursuit is dead? Well, there’s a tell on the roster that is very suggestive.

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As of Wednesday, the Vikings hadn’t made significant contract overtures toward a clearly defined and experienced veteran backup, despite it being a priority behind McCarthy. The only other quarterback on the roster is Brett Rypien, and he doesn’t fit that mold. One player who does is Carson Wentz. The same Wentz who has extensive starting experience, is coming off a season of backing up Patrick Mahomes with the Kansas City Chiefs, and has familiarity with the offensive scheme of Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, having spent the 2023 season backing up Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams.

While Wentz isn’t the only backup the Vikings could pursue, his free agency availability is just now entering a put-up-or-shut-up phase, with the Cleveland Browns currently holding him as one of the team’s back-burner quarterback options. Wentz notably overlapped with Browns general manager Andrew Berry during the 2019 season, when Wentz started 16 games for the Eagles and Berry was the team's vice president of player personnel.

Aug 10, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) takes the snap against the Las Vegas Raiders in the third quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports — The Vikings have no plans in dealing QB J.J. McCarthy, who missed his entire rookie season last year with a knee injury. (Brad Rempel/USA TODAY Sports)

The pressing question — and the true canary in the coal mine when it comes to the conclusion of a Rodgers pursuit — is whether the Vikings now move to get Wentz or another veteran backup to pair with McCarthy. If they don’t, Rodgers’ availability will linger inside Minnesota’s franchise until he retires or signs with another team. And right now, nobody across the league has a sense of that happening quickly.

Those who have been part of Rodgers’ circle in the past — particularly during his transition out of the Green Bay Packers and into the New York Jets — said there has been nothing but silence from him this offseason. One indicated that it’s possible that only Rodgers and his agent, David Dunn, have any inkling to where the QB's mindset is currently at, or whether he has changed his outlook since telling the Jets he wanted to continue playing in 2025.

What is clear: The Steelers, Giants and fellow free-agent quarterback Russell Wilson are in a holding pattern until some kind of clarity emerges. Wilson is an alternative option on the table for at least the Giants. But two league sources have told Yahoo Sports that Russell’s potential to return to the Steelers is less certain regardless of what Rodgers does, and likely would be completely off the table if it were simply the decision of some members of the offensive coaching staff. For that to change would likely take some conversations inside the building and a total lack of other QB candidates.

All of this means that for now, Rodgers is still the primary target for the Steelers and Giants, with lingering availability for the Vikings as long as they haven’t put the final touches on their quarterback room. This is why this could drag on for a while. As long as the Vikings have a seat for a veteran quarterback open, Rodgers could wait to see how their offseason passing program develops with McCarthy. And as long as Rodgers waits, the Steelers and Giants are likely to wait, too, with no other realistic avenues open to leverage Rodgers into making a decision.

Until some doors start to close in an obvious and undeniable way — starting with the Vikings moving on to sign another quarterback to support McCarthy — this wait could last for a while.