Aaron Rodgers is still holding out for a move to the Minnesota Vikings despite meeting with Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, a source close to the quarterback has told the Daily Mail.

Nearly three weeks since being released by the New York Jets, Rodgers, 41, remains in NFL free agency as he continues to agonize over his future in the sport.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings are understood to be leading the race to sign him, with the New York Giants previously in the running before snapping up another veteran quarterback in Russell Wilson.

And while he did recently link up with Tomlin in Pittsburgh, the four-time MVP is waiting to find out if a deal can be struck with Minnesota after setting his sights on the Vikings.

An insider has revealed that Rodgers is taking his time after holding discussions with legend Brett Favre, who is acting as something of a mentor and talking Rodgers through the positives and negatives of signing for both teams.

‘Aaron has had discussions with Brett and they have talked about the pluses and minuses of going to Pittsburgh or Minnesota,’ our source said.

Aaron Rodgers is still holding out for a move to the Minnesota Vikings, an insider has revealed

Brett Favre talked Rodgers through the pluses and negatives of the Vikings and Steelers

‘Aaron originally was adamant on not going to Minnesota at all because he didn’t want it to look like he was following in Brett’s footsteps but he has softened his stance on going to Minnesota, and if they eventually want him that would be great as he is trying to convince them to bring him on and give JJ McCarthy more time to grow into the position. 

‘The thing with Minnesota over Pittsburgh is also that they are more ready to win, their team is stacked. Pittsburgh has great coaching and pieces, but Aaron feels it will be more difficult to get to the Super Bowl with Pittsburgh as there are too many good teams in the AFC to get through and he feels he has a better chance navigating through the NFC, where he is more familiar with all of that situation.’

They continued: ‘He knows he has Pittsburgh at any time, but he is holding out to see if Minnesota changes their mind.

‘But he and the teams as a whole are looking to make final decisions right before the draft. So a few more weeks of silence might be the case, but Aaron is trying to steer his ticket to Minnesota before he would settle for Pittsburgh.’

Rodgers is said to have no interest in the third potential option: retirement. ‘He wants to give it one more go,’ the source added.

Steelers coach Tomlin and Vikings counterpart Kevin O’Connell have both discussed the possibility of signing the Super Bowl-winning quarterback over the past week.

After their recent meeting in Pittsburgh, Tomlin insisted he had a ‘really good day’ with Rodgers while claiming there is no deadline to sign him.

Rodgers’ preference is to link up with the likes of Justin Jefferson in Minnesota later this year

The legendary quarterback recently held talks with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin

Vikings boss Kevin O’Connell discussed their interest in Rodgers amid talk of a potential move

‘Specifically, he and I obviously have known of each other for some time, and so it was really good to spend some time together, man, and get to know each other more intimately,’ he said.

‘But it is free agency. It is a process. I have nothing of any more significance to add other than that.’

O’Connell, meanwhile, stressed that his priority is making sure young quarterback JJ McCarthy is in a position to ‘hit the ground running’ in 2025 despite holding his own talks with Rodgers.

‘Look, Aaron and I have known each other for a long time,’ the Minnesota HC admitted. ‘Four-time MVP. I can’t even put into words the amount of respect I have for Aaron.

‘So when it became a possibility that Aaron may have interest in playing for the Minnesota Vikings, our job is to evaluate what that looks like. You have to take the time to visit those topics and have that kind of dialogue as an organization.

‘And where we ended up is after some personal dialogue with Aaron, we wanted to make sure JJ feels he’s in a position to hit the ground running this spring, have a great spring and put himself in position to have a great 2025.’