Colin Cowherd breaks down why Aaron Rodgers was waiting for Minnesota  -“Closer to Malibu, closer to home”

Aaron Rodgers has been looking for a team to play with in the 2025 season after being cut by the New York Jets at the start of the new league year. At one point, he was heavily leaning towards joining the Minnesota Vikings, completing a career path that his predecessor Brett Favre trod 16 years ago.

Those talks have since collapsed as the Vikings look to move forward with J.J. McCarthy, but Colin Cowherd believes that the multiple time-MVP 's interest in Minnesota made a lot of sense. Speaking on FS1's The Herd on Monday, the veteran sportscaster said (segment begins at 01:37):

"There's a reason Aaron Rodgers was waiting and waiting. He wanted Minnesota, excellent offensive coach, superstar wide receiver who doesn't complain much, upgraded their offensive line very well in free agency. Aaron wanted to go to Minnesota, knew the division, closer to Malibu, closer to home."

Aaron Rodgers is well-acquainted with the NFC North. He famously played 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, the Vikings' fierce division rivals.

While Malibu, a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area where Rodgers has a house, is obviously far from Minneapolis, where the Vikings are based, it is still relatively nearer than Pittsburgh and New York, the other two teams being linked to him.

And speaking of Pittsburgh, his meeting with the Steelers organization surprised NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, who said on Pat McAfee's eponymous show on Monday:

“It was amazing to me. We've sort of talked about this before, the close circle that Aaron Rodgers has, not a lot of people knew about this visit. People very close to him did not know... It broke from a reporter who's covered the Steelers for a very long time, and it's very tight in there.”

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Steelers have the culture that Aaron Rodgers experienced in Green Bay, posits insider

It is no secret that Aaron Rodgers loved Green Bay for a long time. The organization proved itself one of the best at fostering a winning environment during his tenure, and Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer believes the Steelers have a similar situation. He writes:

"Pittsburgh has a long-established culture, a family-business feel, and stability, just like Green Bay. It also helps that the roster is stocked with decorated veterans such as T.J. Watt, Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and now DK Metcalf, who are deep into their careers and presumably would carry a similar win-now urgency to Rodgers."

As for the Giants, while Rodgers has a mansion near their stadium, they have only at least a semblance of such aspects. Darius Slayton and Dexter Lawrence are currently the team's longest-tenured players at six seasons completed each, and the franchise has had just two playoff appearances since their last Super Bowl run.