Cowboys' George Pickens joins Eagles' AJ Brown and Steelers' Aaron Rodgers atop the NFL's top unfinished business

The first significant marker for the Cowboys and Pickens is now the full-squad mandatory minicamp that is scheduled for June 16-18. As of now, it appears Dallas has no plans to trade Pickens — but that was the belief about trading Parsons at this time last year. The timeline of happens next and when (or if) Pickens signs his tag is now in his hands.

Of course, he’s not the only headlining player that is going to draw a spotlight heading toward the June mandatory camps. Brown is still in a holding pattern with the Philadelphia Eagles as he awaits an anticipated trade to the New England Patriots, while the Pittsburgh Steelers are still waiting on word from quarterback Aaron Rodgers about his plans for the 2026 season.

What we know about those two situations …

A.J. Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles

Any trade of Brown has been on hold until after June 1, when the Eagles can split his $43.4 million salary cap hit over the next two seasons, rather than taking the full accelerated hit on the 2026 books. That has put Brown’s availability on a back burner for the entirety of this offseason.

However, the Eagles’ pursuit of a package containing a first-round pick in exchange for Brown had not changed as recently as last week, according to several league sources that spoke to Yahoo Sports about Philadelphia’s asking price. With the New England Patriots believed to be the Eagles’ chosen trade partner, that demand of a first-round pick complicates a deal. With the 2027 draft expected to yield a deep and talented class of prospects, many franchises have balked at giving up 2027 draft capital in trades.

However, where it concerns Brown, there’s a possibility the Eagles would be open to pushing first-round draft compensation back one year, giving the Patriots the flexibility to deal a 2028 first rather than a choice in 2027. As of now, it’s believed a deal is still on track for a resolution in June.

Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers’ offseason at quarterback seems to following last year’s design, which was a sustained preparation to sign Rodgers and surround him with a “win now” team. With that in mind, Pittsburgh didn’t address the quarterback room until the sixth round of the 2025 draft — clearly keeping the team’s starting job open for Rodgers.

Last week’s draft featured much of the same under new head coach Mike McCarthy, as the Steelers waited until the middle of the third round to select Penn State quarterback Drew Allar. That shaped up Pittsburgh’s quarterback depth chart into the trio of Allar, second-year player Will Howard and veteran Mason Rudolph. Which once again leaves a door wide open for Rodgers, who has kept a low profile for most of this offseason.

The key date here? The Steelers’ mandatory veteran minicamp is slated for June 2-4. While Pittsburgh hasn’t set any hard deadlines publicly, it’s believed the coaching staff would like to have Rodgers in the fold by that camp — if he is ultimately planning to continue his career for another season. Interestingly, his former coach Mike Tomlin opined about Rodgers’ future in his new job as an analyst for NBC, predicting the veteran quarterback would indeed pay for the Steelers in 2026.

“Man, if you’ve got a gun to my head, I’d say it’s AR — Aaron,” Tomlin said of the Steelers’ starting QB next season. “I just think, being around him for the 12 months I’m around him, he’s got a love affair with the game of football. And not only the game, but the process.

“I think he has an addiction to that. And there’s only one way to feed it. And certainly, he is still capable and in really good shape. I think at the end of the day, he’ll play football.”