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Aaron Rodgers and Cameron Heyward developed a quick rapport during their brief time as teammates. That was made clear during Rodgers' recent appearance on Heyward's podcast when the quarterback made a subtle jab at the ongoing hold-in. 

Rodgers' joke occurred when discussing second-year center Zach Frazier's leadership. Rodgers shared that he recently told Frazier that he could "whoop everybody up front," a comment that initially caught Heyward off-guard until Rodgers clarified that he only referring to the Steelers' offensive line. 

"Everything's not about you, bro," Steelers wideout DK Metcalf, who also appeared on the podcast, said to Heyward. 

"Exactly, yeah," Rodgers added. "It's all about you and your money." 

Heyward, who was clearly surprised by Rodgers' comment, elected not to discuss his contract and instead moved the conversation in a different direction. 

The 36-year-old Heyward has two years remaining on an extension signed last September after the Steelers allegedly asked him to take a pay cut. But after having one of his best seasons in 2024 (that came on the heels of an injury-plagued 2023 season), Heyward recently said that he couldn't justify being the NFL's 22nd highest-paid interior defensive player. 

Heyward, who was slated to earn $14.75 season this season, already received $13.45 million of this year's salary as a roster bonus. He was then going to make $14.5 million in 2026, the final year of his contract. 

While Heyward's contract situation with the Steelers remains ongoing, the fact that Rodgers was comfortable enough to joke about it might mean good things for Pittsburgh, who needs Heyward on the field this season if they are going to have a chance to snap their eight-year drought without a playoff win. 

Contract comment aside, the point Rodgers was trying to make regarding Frazier shouldn't overlooked.  During that part of the podcast, Rodgers gave an example of some of the growth he's already seen out of the unit this summer. Rodgers shared a recent on-field situation when backup quarterback Skyler Thompson was knocked to the ground and no offensive linemen came to his aid. That served as a teachable moment for the 41-year-old Rodgers. 

"I walked out there like, what the hell just happened?" Rodgers said. "I told the line, 'Don't you ever let that happen again.' I said, 'We gotta protect each other. You guys are the policemen out there on the field. You're the big brothers out there. You protect everybody, from DK to me to whoever's in their quarterback, whoever's in their running back. I don't care if it's preseason practice, whatever, you gotta protect them.

"And the next time something happened, about a week later, what happened? Zach was in there. Pat [Freiermuth] was in there. If Zach's in it, you know, Mason [McCormick] is in there. And then I saw Troy [Fautanu] going in there, and then Spencer [Anderson], and I was like, that's what it looks like. And I'm not talking about instigating fights. I'm just talking about backing your brothers up so they know on the field, don't fuck with us. There's something powerful to that."