First Call: Aaron Rodgers' decision expected 'within the next few days'; Steelers talking with a college QB

Tuesday’s “First Call” has an optimistic spin on the Aaron Rodgers watch for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants.

In the meantime, the Steelers are talking to a college quarterback in advance of the NFL Draft. A depth defensive lineman may be on their wish list too.

We’ll preview the Penguins’ Tuesday night game in Tampa Bay, and we talk about how the transfer portal is biting Robert Morris and Duquesne basketball.

On the horizon?

The Aaron Rodgers saga may be finally coming to an end. The former New York Jets quarterback has been taking weeks to decide where he wants to play football next year, or if he will play at all. The potential destinations seem to be down to the Steelers and the New York Giants.

On Monday, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network told Sirius XM Radio that a decision may finally be around the corner.

“My impression from talking to a lot of people involved is that people believe this answer is coming in the near term, maybe even within the next few days here,” Pelissero said.

According to Pelissero, agreeing on money isn’t a concern at this stage.

“They’ve had parameters in place in Pittsburgh for weeks. It’s not going to be a contract thing. It’s not going to be a financial thing,” Pelissero added. “The Giants? There have been ongoing conversations, ongoing dialogue with Aaron Rodgers’ agent, but Aaron just — he calls his own shots.”

Russell Wilson appears to be hanging in the balance waiting to find out what Rodgers is going to do.

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Hook ’em

John Hendrix covers the New Orleans Saints for Athlon Sports. He says Saints’ reps at Texas’ pro day had dinner with quarterback Quinn Ewers. But he was also supposed to meet with the Steelers in advance of Tuesday’s workouts.

Pittsburgh also met with Ewers during the combine. An Ohio State transfer, the 6-foot-1 quarterback threw for 3,472 yards. He led the SEC with 31 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

Also, Justin Melo of the Draft Network reports that the Steelers are planning to host SMU edge rusher Elijah Roberts on pre-draft “30” visits.

Melo goes on to say that Roberts also has a virtual meeting with the San Francisco 49ers and an in-person visit with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Over the last two years with the Mustangs, he posted 17.5 sacks and had a good East-West Shrine Bowl.

Elijah Roberts from SMU had a pretty dominant first day of practice at the Shrine game. He won both on the Edge and the interior. He had 131 pressures his last two years in college to go along with 17 sacks. Near 34” arms too. He’s a fun and versatile player pic.twitter.com/YyA2FMgxsK

— Daniel Salib (@salibdaniel1) January 25, 2025

At 6-4, 285 pounds, Roberts may be more of a 3-4 defensive end than a pure outside pass rusher off the edge. He’s the 27th-rated edge on the board according to ESPN.com, and may project to be a third-day selection.

It almost sounds like he could be another attempt at what the Steelers tried to create with DeMarvin Leal three years ago.

Ride the Lightning

The Penguins conclude their trip to Florida on Tuesday night in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. The puck drops at 7 p.m.

Last time out the Penguins dropped a 4-3 shootout to the Florida Panthers. However, the Pens have now put up points in six of their past seven games.

Meanwhile, Tampa has been up and down of late. The Lightning followed a three-game losing streak with a three-game winning streak, only to drop their two most recent contests against the Utah Hockey Club and the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Lightning have 85 points, good for third place in the Atlantic Division and 10 points above the wild card cut line. The Penguins, meanwhile, have only 69 points, third from the bottom in the Eastern Conference.

Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby has been posting some insane stats lately, though.

At age 37, Sidney Crosby is still racking up multi-point games for the @Penguins. He now has 20 of them this season.#NHLStats: https://t.co/Gingpdgd6N pic.twitter.com/CYScVECl48

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) March 23, 2025

Sidney Crosby, at 37 years old …

▪️1st in the NHL in 5v5 scoring
▪️2 points away from a record-breaking 20th point per-game season
▪️Close to 57% from the faceoff dot

Like fine wine, with Sid ???? pic.twitter.com/L0ouefe1Ae

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 24, 2025

Per usual, Nikita Kucherov is putting up big numbers for the Lightning. He’s got 98 points to lead the team. That’s the third-highest total in the NHL. He’s also on a five-game point streak. Former Penguin Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point lead Tampa with 34 goals apiece, seventh-most in the NHL.

The first game between these teams was a 3-2 overtime win for the Lightning on Nov. 19. The Pens also lost to them 5-2 on Jan. 12.

Portal problem

The star of Robert Morris’ NCAA Tournament slugfest with Alabama is entering the transfer portal. Amarion Dickerson made that announcement on social media Tuesday.

Thank you Rmu????????3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/R4yiLBua7u

— 3️⃣ (@BT_mar3) March 24, 2025

Dickerson totaled 25 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks against the Crimson Tide as the 15th-seeded Colonials threatened to stun the No. 2 seed in the East Region before falling 90-81.

The 6-7 junior was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Horizon League. His 2.3 blocks per game were second in the conference. He also averaged 13.3 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per contest.

Done at Duquesne?

At least two Duquesne Dukes are entering the portal as well.

It appears Kareem Rozier is considering options elsewhere. He went online Monday afternoon to retweet reports that he was potentially moving on.

First possession of the 2nd.

A Kareem Rozier 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/8FSPuh6plX

— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) November 9, 2024

In 32 games this past season, Rozier averaged 6.7 points per game. He led the team with 3.3 assists and 1.1 steals per outing. While the junior point guard saw his minutes increase slightly from last year, his starts dropped from 21 to 10.

Matúš Hronský is on his way off the bluff as well.

The 6-8 Serbian forward saw a spike in his playing time during his third year with the Dukes. After starting just one game as a sophomore, the junior started 11 times and averaged 16.9. He put up 5.2 points per game.

Hronský topped out with 16 points in a loss at Dayton in February when he hit four 3-pointers.