It's been months since we last heard about the alleged interest that current Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had in playing for the Minnesota Vikings this season, but someone apparently wants it back in the headlines.
During a discussion about the Vikings' quarterback situation on Tuesday's episode of "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz," The Athletic's Dianna Russini made sure to mention that Minnesota's rumored talks with Rodgers earlier this year were legit and the team had legitimate interest in signing the quarterback.
"You've got the Aaron Rodgers scenario, where Aaron Rodgers is available. He's putting out all those smoke signals of, 'Hey, I want to play for you,' and there were considerable conversations in Minnesota about signing Aaron Rodgers.
This was not just Rodgers calling Kevin [O'Connell] going, 'I want to play for you.' They talked about it and [the Vikings] were weighing it heavily and they made the decision as a group that they don't want to go in that direction, that they want to go all in on J.J. McCarthy.
Aaron Rodgers rumors involving the Minnesota Vikings were laid to rest a while ago
Despite Russini's efforts to prove her false reporting correct, her report was proven wrong by the actual Steelers quarterback himself just a few weeks ago.
Leading up to Minnesota's Week 4 matchup in Dublin, Ireland, against Pittsburgh, Rodgers was asked about any conversations he had with Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell during the offseason and if any of their chats had to do with him suiting up in purple and gold.
In response, the four-time NFL MVP shot down the idea that any talks with O'Connell earlier this year were anything more than catching up with an old friend.
"I’ve addressed that already, but I’ll just reiterate that Kevin and I have been friends since 2008. ...We keep in touch. He’s one of the guys I keep in touch with. Things never progressed farther than catch-up conversations. And I’ll just leave it at that.”
This doesn't seem like it's going to happen this year, but it feels like if Minnesota won this season's Super Bowl, when talking about it, Russini would find a way to insert something about Rodgers' alleged interest in the team.