Cardinals receiver Kendrick Bourne is shooting his shot with Aaron Rodgers, hoping he'll sign there instead of the Steelers.
The saga with now free agent Aaron Rodgers is continuing, with a large chance he ends up exactly where he was last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, another team’s wide receiver came out of the woodwork to reignite one of the bigger stories in the NFL this offseason. New Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Kendrick Bourne is publicly recruiting Rodgers over social media, with coach Mike LaFleur not exactly shutting down speculation.
Bourne tweeted at Rodgers: “Come on, we waiting on you.” It’s sort of understandable why. The current Cardinals quarterback room features Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew, Kedon Slovis and third-round rookie Carson Beck – Rodgers would undeniably be a step up. LaFleur didn’t quell the talks when he appeared on The Jim Rome Show, saying that they’re simply focused on their room now, declining to address his receiver’s tweet just hours later.
It makes sense for the fit as well. Current OC Nathaniel Hackett is close with Rodgers after working with him in Green Bay while Rodgers went on to win consecutive MVP awards. LaFleur is the brother of Packers coach LaFleur, who worked with Rodgers for four seasons. Further complicating matters is the fact that Brissett skipped voluntary workouts over a contract dispute. It would be a shame to waste the offensive weapons of Trey McBride, Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson and third-overall pick Jeremiyah Love, and Bourne is hoping to solve that with Rodgers.
To read more on the attempted poach of Rodgers, here is the full story from Steelers Roundtable writer Ashish Mathur.
Now, all of this speculation is devised from a tweet that shouldn’t be read into too much. However, Rodgers is known to keep his cards close to his chest and clearly weighed his options last season before finally signing with Pittsburgh last June. This year, the Steelers understandably want an answer ahead of OTAs on May 18, but it’s not clear whether Rodgers is amendable to that.
Should things fall apart, there’s a possible window for Rodgers, as Arizona’s mandatory minicamp will begin from June 8 to 10. But until May 18, there isn’t much to do but speculate, and Bourne certainly fueled the fire there.