Silence has never been more nerve-wracking. And at the center of it? Aaron Rodgers’ future, which has officially reached incomprehensible category. While the Minnesota Vikings seems to have moved on from the quarterback—with his ‘Vikings or retirement’ plan now unlikely—the veteran has squarely landed in Pittsburgh Steelers territory now (quite literally). On March 21, the former Jets signal-caller reportedly visited Mike Tomlin’s team, and spent six hours with them. After the day was done and dusted, the HC had even come out to say, “It was a really good day,” while team owner Art Rooney II said about a week later how things were headed in the positive direction. And then there was the massive (read: exciting) revelation from Mike Florio…

On the March 23 episode of the NFL on NBC show, the journalist made an ambitious remark: If you have any concerns that the Steelers fan base is going to have trepidation about Aaron Rodgers, and it just so happens that Pat McAfee is going to have this event at the PPG Arena in Pittsburgh on April 9th. Doesn’t it make sense? For Rodgers to make a WWE-style entrance. Then and there with the music, and the lights, and the hype and everything, and everyone in the building, and the word trickles out, to all [of] Pittsburgh that Rodgers is here.”

“That’s the best possible way to introduce him to the Steelers through this positive vibe of him showing up. It makes sense. He’s on the [Pat McAfee] show every week during football season, and they’re doing this event…and it’s only 15 days away. Doesn’t it make sense?…it makes too much sense that that’s where it gets announced,” Florio had said about a potential Rodgers-McAfee reunion on April 9. However, looks like the man in question is here to clear the air once and for all. Heads-up: You’re not going to be happy.

Interestingly, a few days ago, it was rumored that Aaron Rodgers was going to appear on the Pat McAfee Show. In fact, McAfee also had told fans that if Rodgers would come on his show, the 41-year-old future HOF would land in Pittsburgh. But in his latest statements today, Pat McAfee has revealed something unexpected. During an April 8 appearance on the ‘Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger’, McAfee informed, “There’s going to be a lot of surprises tomorrow night at Big Night AHT. Aaron Rodgers is not on the docket,” before adding:

“I would like everybody to know that, because I think the show has so many, like, real moments that are coming. And I think there’s a chance people afterwards go, ‘Freaking didn’t see Aaron Rodgers out there.’ I have not talked to Aaron Rodgers. I think it would be a positive reaction at that particular show [if he was to appear], but I haven’t talked to him in weeks, months at this point.”

This stirred the pot of debates on whether Aaron is not coming on his show, or whether he is not joining the Steelers. But if the latter were to be true, Tomlin will have a lot to worry. But, how?

The Steelers have a four-QB plan, which the Cowboys have already disturbed with Joe Milton’s trade. And now with Rodgers allegedly out of the conversation, the Pittsburgh franchise will be desperately searching for a QB in the draft or in free agency. 

However, Tomlin’s problems don’t end here. While this news came out on social media, TJ Watt also shocked Mike Tomlin with a cryptic post on Instagram.

TJ Watt’s cryptic post shocked Mike Tomlin amid Aaron Rodgers drama

On April 9, the star linebacker of the Steelers shocked everyone when he dropped a photo on Instagram. In his Instagram story, TJ Watt had his photo in the Steelers jersey, but a ‘Winston Churchill-like’ ‘peace’ sign was saying something else. That post created havoc among die-hard Steelers fans, speculating that the 30-year-old defender is retiring.

These rumors came after TJ Watt’s direct message to those who were saying the Steelers are dragging out LB’s contract extension. “Reward your players earlier and reap the benefits in the long run. Dragging it out not only ends up costing more, but it also creates unnecessary tension. The longer you wait, the higher the price,” Watt said in his response. He is currently in the last year of his four-year $112,011,000 contract. 

At this point, TJ has not responded to the retirement rumors. But the rumors so far suggest the same. But if the LB makes that decision strong, it would be a piece of double bad news for Mike Tomlin amid the Aaron Rodgers drama.