PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — Some people might be anxiously waiting for Aaron Rodgers to make up his mind about whether he's going to play this upcoming season.
Mike Tomlin is not among them.
The Pittsburgh Steelers coach told reporters at the NFL's owners meetings that while he enjoyed spending some time with the four-time league MVP when Rodgers visited the team's facility earlier this month, he has no intention of putting Rodgers on a clock.
“Deadlines don’t often bring that to a head,” Tomlin said.
So for now there doesn't appear to be one, not even with the NFL draft less than four weeks away and the Steelers holding the 21st overall pick.
Rodgers, a free agent for the first time in his 20-year career, has been linked to Minnesota and the New York Giants as well, though the Giants appear to no longer be in play after signing Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston.
The Vikings also appear to be set at quarterback with J.J. McCarthy returning from an injury that cost him his rookie season.
On the surface, the debate appears to be whether Rodgers wants to play in Pittsburgh, or if he wants to play at all.
The Steelers did bring back Mason Rudolph on a two-year deal. But the only other quarterback currently on the roster is former Miami Dolphin Skylar Thompson. There's plenty of room to add, both physically and in terms of salary.
“We’re optimistic about the room that we’re constructing,” Tomlin said, later adding, "But certainly we’re going to continue to explore all our options in terms of rounding that room out.”
Tomlin and Rodgers have long had an affinity — publicly anyway — for each other, including a couple of moments during games in recent years in which they seemed to acknowledge each other for their gamesmanship, moments quickly went viral.
The NFL's longest-tenured head coach called Rodgers' visit “a really good day,” even though it ended with Rodgers leaving without a deal.
Pittsburgh has been stuck in a bit of quarterback purgatory since Ben Roethlisberger's retirement after the 2021 season. The team has churned through five quarterbacks in three years, yet has also somehow made the playoffs twice before making a quick exit.
Whoever is the quarterback will get a chance to throw passes to DK Metcalf, acquired in a trade with Seattle three weeks ago. Tomlin said he expects the two-time Pro Bowler to be a “big asset."
"It’s not only in terms of the tangible things that he brings, but there’s an awesome intangible quality to him as a worker and as a man that’s equally exciting,” Tomlin said.
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FILE - New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) looks out over the line of scrimmage during an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Oct. 6, 2024 in London. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano, File)
Violent storms cut through a wide swath of the South and Midwest, spawning tornadoes and killing at least three people, knocking down power lines and trees and ripping roofs off homes.
Dozens of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued Wednesday in parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Mississippi as storms hit those and other states in the evening. Forecasters attributed the violent weather to daytime heating combining with an unstable atmosphere, strong wind shear and abundant moisture streaming into the nation’s midsection from the Gulf.
Sgt. Clark Parrott of the Missouri Highway Patrol said at least one person was killed in southeast Missouri, KFVS-TV reported, while part of a warehouse collapsed in a suburb of Indianapolis, temporarily trapping at least one person inside. In northeast Arkansas a rare tornado emergency was issued as debris flew thousands of feet in the air.
The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed two weather-related fatalities, one in McNairy County and the other in Obion County, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency announced early Thursday.
The coming days were also forecast to bring the risk of potentially deadly flash flooding to the South and Midwest as severe thunderstorms blowing eastward become supercharged. The potent storm system will bring “significant, life-threatening flash flooding” each day through Saturday, the National Weather Service said.
With more than a foot (30 centimeters) of rain possible over the next four days, the prolonged deluge “is an event that happens once in a generation to once in a lifetime,” the weather service said. “Historic rainfall totals and impacts are possible.”
More than 90 million people were at some risk of severe weather in a huge part of the nation stretching from Texas to Minnesota and Maine, according to the Oklahoma-based Storm Prediction Center.
A tornado emergency — the weather service's highest alert — was briefly declared around Blytheville, Arkansas, on Wednesday evening, with debris lofted at least 25,000 feet (7.6 kilometers), according to Chelly Amin, a meteorologist with the service.
“It's definitely going to be a really horrible situation here come sunrise in the morning in those areas,” Amin said.
A tornado was also reported on the ground near Harrisburg, Arkansas, in the evening.
The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management reported that there was damage in 22 counties due to tornadoes, wind gusts, hail and flash flooding. At least four people were injured, but there were no reports of fatalities as of Wednesday evening.
In Kentucky, a tornado touched down Wednesday night around Jeffersontown, a suburb of Louisville, passing the Interstate 64 and Interstate 265 interchange, according to the weather service.
Four people were injured in Kentucky when a church was hit by debris from a suspected tornado, according to Ballard County Emergency Management. One person was in critical condition, while the others have non-life-threatening injuries.
In Brownsburg, Indiana, where part of a warehouse collapsed, the police department told people to not travel through the city. Five semitrucks were blown over on Interstate 65 near Lowell, Indiana, state police reported.
Indianapolis Public Schools announced a remote learning day Thursday due to power outages at multiple buildings. At least 10 districts in Indiana have canceled or delayed in-person classes Thursday.
The town of Delta, in southern Missouri, which has under 400 people, had downed powerlines and trees, and damaged buildings. Road entrances to the town were blocked off. School was canceled for the rest of the week as the Red Cross and an electric utility took over a parking lot at the high school.
“There is too much damage in town,” Superintendent David Heeb posted online. “We need to give our families a chance to regroup and take care of the things they need to focus on right now.”
In Pilot Grove, Missouri, several structures were damaged, cars flipped over and power poles were snapped, the state emergency management agency said. Minor injuries were reported, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Authorities in eastern Missouri were trying to determine whether it was a tornado that damaged buildings, overturned vehicles and tore down utility poles, tree limbs and business signs in the morning in and around the city of Nevada.
Another tornado touched down in the northeastern Oklahoma city of Owasso on Wednesday, according to the weather service. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the twister heavily damaged the roofs of homes and knocked down power lines, trees, fences and sheds.
Power was knocked out to more than 330,000 customers in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee as of Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide.
A line of thunderstorms dropped heavy rain through parts of Indiana on Wednesday night. At least one street was flooded in Indianapolis, with water nearly reaching the windows of several cars, according to the city's metropolitan police department. No one was in the vehicles.
Additional rounds of heavy rain were expected in parts of Texas, the lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley from midweek through Saturday. Forecasters warned that they could track over the same areas repeatedly, producing dangerous flash floods capable of sweeping cars away.
Middle Tennessee was looking at severe storms followed by four days of heavy rains as the front stalls out and sticks around through the weekend, according to NWS meteorologist Mark Rose.
“I don’t recall ever seeing one like this, and I’ve been here 30 years,” Rose said. “It’s not moving.”
Rain totaling up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) was forecast over the next seven days in northeastern Arkansas, the southeast corner of Missouri, western Kentucky and southern parts of Illinois and Indiana, the weather service warned, with some areas in Kentucky and Indiana at an especially high risk for flooding.
Associated Press writers Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Seth Borenstein in Washington; Isabella O'Malley in Philadelphia; and Ed White in Detroit.
Storm damage from severe weather on Sunday at a farm along 84th Street near Hanna Lake Avenue in Gaines Twp., Mich. on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
A barn that collapsed from Sunday's severe storm along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
Gary Deripaska, left, cleans up storm damage at his home off 96th Street North just west of Garnett Road, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
A toppled tree with its roots showing on Woodworth Street in Linden, Mich., on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News via AP)
An aerial image of a barn that collapsed after a severe storm hit Sunday along 92nd Street SE in Gaines Twp., Mich., on Monday, March 31, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)
An early morning severe storm damaged homes, destroying the roofs and knocked down power lines, trees, and fences off 96th Street North near Garnett Road, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
A tree fell and knocked down power lines and blocked a street in a residential neighborhood during storms on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
Lightning strikes as storms move through the area Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Ashland City, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Severe storm damage is shown off 96th Street North between Garnett Road and Mingo Road Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
Ryland Mosley, 18, who was on the 2nd story of his home when the storm passed, stands outside of it observing the damage, Wednesday, April 2, 2025 in Owasso, Okla. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)
