The Pittsburgh Steelers are waiting for QB Aaron Rodgers to make a decision, but all signs are pointing to him winding up with the Steelers. He dropped a hint about signing with Pittsburgh during a podcast event hosted by rapper Mike Stud (a sentence I never thought I'd write), but Michael Wilbon thinks that signing Rodgers is a bad idea for Pittsburgh. On ESPN's Get Up! on Friday, Wilbon, one of the most recognizable faces in sports media, called the Steelers letting Rodgers "anywhere near their building" a mistake.
"They're making a mistake if they let him anywhere near their building. What are we talking about? Do people just look at actually what happens in sports? Aaron Rodgers hasn't been relevant as a quarterback in the NFL for four or five seasons...the hallmark of the Pittsburgh Steelers is not stupidity. It's a smart organization that makes right moves over decades. And they're gonna bring Aaron Rodgers in, with all his drama, into that room?"
Wilbon's right that the Steelers arne't and haven't been a stupid organization. They've been a stable franchise, but that stability, at least at the quarterback position, has crumbled in recent years. Since Ben Roethlisberger's retirement, it's a position that's been anything but stable. Kenny Pickett was drafted to be the franchise quarterback in 2022. That went awry, and by the end of 2023 he was out of town. Mitch Trubisky was supposed to be a stopgap option and played like it. Last season, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson led the Steelers to the playoffs, but Wilson fell apart late in the season and both departed in free agency.
The Steelers simply don't have an answer they're super happy with. They did re-sign Mason Rudolph, who's three-game run at the end of the 2023 season is arguably the best sustained stretch of quarterback play the Steelers have had since Roethlisberger's retirement. But they're still pursuing Rodgers, even with all his baggage, which goes to show how desperate the Steelers are at quarterback.
When an organization known for its stability faces a crisis at the game's most important position in the middle of a playoff win drought that dates back to 2016, things might get a little desperate. While I'm of the belief that signing Rodgers does make the Steelers a better team and gives them a better chance of winning a playoff game, I understand Wilbon's point. It's only going to be a one-season arrangement anyway, and bringing in Rodgers could be more of a headache than anything.
Maybe Rodgers comes to Pittsburgh and is on his best behavior, but if he isn't, the first time he goes on The Pat McAfee Show and calls out a teammate, it'll validate the point that maybe the whole circus isn't worth it for the Steelers. But Rodgers is the only real viable starting option left in free agency or available via trade, and the Steelers are desperate to win a playoff game. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Rodgers is that measure.
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