As the Steelers wait for Aaron Rodgers, one has to wonder what OC Arthur Smith is thinking. According to reports, he had some compatibility issues with Russell Wilson, his previous quarterback. One gets the sense that he would have preferred Justin Fields, whom they failed to re-sign. If he had some clashes of philosophy with Wilson, what would a pairing with Rodgers look like?
That’s what former NFL GM Doug Whaley wants to find out, assuming the Steelers sign Aaron Rodgers. They have a deal on the table for him, but as of this writing, he has yet to sign. Between the QB, OC, and even HC Mike Tomlin, it could make for a combustible union.
“The [Aaron] Rodgers, [Mike] Tomlin, [Arthur] Smith triumvirate, how is that gonna look?” the former Steelers executive wondered aloud on 93.7 The Fan recently. “Just knowing what we know of the words that have come out of Tomlin’s mouth, the rumors we’ve heard about Artie Smith, and what we know about Aaron Rodgers? This is gonna be a beautiful disaster.”
I’m not sure a “beautiful disaster” is what the Steelers are hoping for in pursuing Rodgers, but that very well may be what they end up with, anyway. There is a reason the Jets moved on from him — and the Packers for that matter. A surefire Hall of Famer, he is not the type of player franchises allow to leave under normal circumstances.
“I’m interested in Aaron Rodgers,” Whaley continued. “Why is he picking the Steelers? Because they must have sold him [on], ‘When you come in here, this is going to be your offense.’ At this time in his career, I can’t see him signing up to be in a place where he can’t audible and it’s three yards and a cloud of dust and protect-the-football type of mentality. He wants to go out with a bang. He wants to go out showing that it is Aaron Rodgers that resurrected the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
He went on to say that he sees Tomlin, Smith, and the Steelers taking a step back and letting Aaron Rodgers run the show. But if they were resistant to Wilson taking the reins, do they really have that much more respect for Rodgers?
One vein of thinking is the notion that Rodgers is a more high-level thinker than Wilson, the latter not always quickly reading through his progressions and successfully diagnosing defenses. These are issues that he had long before he was with the Steelers. At least in the case of Rodgers, he has always had a reputation of being a manipulator on the field.
Or, perhaps, what the Steelers are trying to figure out is what kind of marriage they can have with Rodgers? How much is he willing to bend — especially considering he doesn’t really have any other options? If he wants to play this season, he basically has to choose the Steelers. But to what degree is he willing to settle into a system the Steelers want to run?
