The NFL Annual League Meeting is underway in Phoenix, Arizona, with owners, general managers and head coaches from all 32 teams on hand for three days of league business.
Coach Mike McCarthy, attending his first league meeting as the Steelers head coach, took time out to talk with the Pittsburgh media on hand, and his focus is on one thing.
Football.
Steelers players report next week for the offseason program, and McCarthy is looking forward to having them at the facility for the strength and conditioning portion of the offseason, before things progress to the other phases, which include OTAs.
"We're preparing for our players to come in next week, and we want to give them the information of how we're going to operate," said McCarthy. "I'm focusing on getting the whole team together. Getting the offense, defense, special teams, game management, fundamentals, all those things taught so we can get through them in the first three phases because when we go to Latrobe, we want to go through ramp up and football. Every one of those practices is critical."
One player who has been the talk of the offseason is quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and many of the questions posed to McCarthy were about Rodgers' future and does it involve returning to the Steelers.
McCarthy has spoken to Rodgers throughout the offseason and while he didn't set a timeline, he did say the quarterback is in a 'positive space.'
"Just like they always are, life, football, so what's going on at the facility," said McCarthy of the conversations. "Really engaged into what's going on.
"I would just say he's in a very positive space. We'll just continue to engage in conversations. We've been talking weekly, every couple of days, so we'll just continue to do that."
The conversations between the two have ranged from checking on each other to just talking football.
"The personal part of it will always be the same," said McCarthy. "Football guys, they talk about the past. We talked about plays in 2010. We're talking a lot of football, his experience in Pittsburgh. We talk a lot about football and just where he is in his life right now."
Rodgers is currently a free agent after spending the 2025 season with the Steelers. Rodgers started all 16 games he appeared in last season, missing one game due to injury. He completed 327 of 498 passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and just seven interceptions while serving as an offensive team captain.
He has a history with McCarthy, playing for him in Green Bay for 13 seasons and winning Super Bowl XLV.
"What I admire about him is his passion for…some people talk about how his ability to jump down any rabbit hole," said McCarthy. "His outlook on life I've always been impressed with, even at a young age. His curiosity is where I'm going with this. Whether it's homeopathic medicine or what's going on in outer space. He has depths probably as diverse and as deep as not only anyone I've ever coached, but I've ever worked with.
"So, I've always admired that about him because he's very well read, he's a very curious individual that, you know takes a lot of pride in his education, his beliefs and what he is doing in his life."
It's that curiosity, that diversity in his knowledge, that also helps him on the football field in McCarthy's eyes.
"I think it translates very much so," said McCarthy. "When you talk about an individual, obviously what he's accomplished, but I'm going back to his younger years, because I clearly believe it's the foundation of who he is. His curiosity and his belief in the depth of the details of playing the position, he's always wanted to do it better than it's ever been done before. You could have a conversation with him about the five-step drop and how it transitions to a two-step drop, or four-step drop in the gun.
"There's such a depth of experience, but his ability to apply that information, I think that's probably one of his greatest gifts.
"He's a gifted thrower, his ball accuracy, and physically the Lord's blessed him extremely. But his ability to apply information at the line of scrimmage, I think he's so unique in that area with his ability to take information, whether it's a call that the defense made or conversation he heard on the defensive sideline. His uncanniness to anticipate things at the line of scrimmage."
Not having a decision from Rodgers isn't something that concerns McCarthy at this point, saying it's a combination of his experience as a coach that helps with that, as well as Rodgers' playing experience.
"I think experience plays into it, not only talking about his experience, but about my own," said McCarthy. "I'm in a position that 20 years ago, and I think we all do this, 20 years ago you probably reacted to situations a little different than you do today. Emotional, education and maturity is a real thing. But I'm comfortable with the dialog that's occurred. We'll just keep working."
An area of work for McCarthy, general manager Omar Khan and the coaching and scouting staffs right now is also the upcoming NFL Draft, which will be held April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have 12 selections in the draft, and McCarthy is excited about what that could bring, knowing it takes more than the 53-man roster to be successful in the NFL.
"You trust your process," said McCarthy. "The draft process in Pittsburgh is a little different than in Green Bay, similar, but no different than Dallas. At the end of the day, you have profiles, and we know where we play, we know how we want to play. We just have to stay the course.
"You can't have enough good football players. And winning one Super Bowl (McCarthy won Super Bowl XLV with Green Bay) and giving the talk that night at the ring ceremony, it took 77 players to win the championship. The message is, all those young guys that are on the practice squad, you'll never hear me talk about the 53, I'll talk about the 68.
"So, you've got 12 picks, let's just try to pick 12 really good football players. I'm hopeful there'll be a quarterback at the right time for us to possibly add to our roster. But 12 picks, we're going to have a heck of a class."
More from McCarthy:
On his comfort level at the guard position with Spencer Anderson and Brock Hoffman: "I think we've got really good veteran competition. It's a group that I'd obviously like to add some young guys to that role. And really, I feel like I can say that throughout our whole roster. I thought we did a good job getting players, so we can add through the draft. You cannot have enough good players."
On receiver Roman Wilson: "I like Roman. I really had a great conversation with him the other day. And really, what you hear about him around the building, just looking forward to working with him. I think he's a young man that new system, fresh start, I'm hoping he's one of those guys who will benefit from it. But I was impressed with just talking football with him, but a lot of people that have a lot of love for him in the building."
