The Pittsburgh Steelers seem content to wait for a decision from free agent quarterback Aaron Rodgers on whether or not he’ll sign with the team, but DL Cameron Heyward doesn’t seem to be a big fan of the wait. On his Not Just Football Podcast, Heyward was asked about how far he’d willing to go to recruit Rodgers, with co-host Hayden Walsh joking about him going on a darkness retreat.
“I ain’t doing that darkness retreat. I don’t need any of that crap. Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don’t, it’s that simple. That’s the pitch.”
Appearing on 93.7 The Fan, ESPN’s Brooke Pryor said Heyward’s comments show the “angst” in the locker room toward the organization for not having a better grasp on the quarterback plan.
“This just signals how exhausted Cam Heyward is of this storyline. The whole team is, which, this to me, is a reflection of the angst in the locker room toward the organization and toward the decision-makers for how this quarterback situation has played out. That they are this far into it, they don’t have an answer, they’re not able to bring back Justin Fields. Plan B isn’t going on the timeline that they planned. And this, to me, is a culmination of all of that,” Pryor said on The Pomp & Joe Show.
It’s more than understandable that the locker room would be a little fed up with how this whole thing has dragged on. The Steelers can’t truly plan out their 2025 roster until they figure out their quarterback situation, and the wait for Aaron Rodgers has seemed to limit some of what the team can do to build out their roster.
Apart from signing Darius Slay, Pittsburgh’s free agency moves have mostly been players to add depth, with the team recently signing DL Daniel Ekuale and S Juan Thornhill. They did trade for DK Metcalf, but it’s been relatively quiet since then. The players on the team want to know who their quarterback will be, and the organization playing the waiting game for Rodgers probably isn’t sitting well with players who want to know who will lead their offense next season.
The Steelers have bungled their quarterback plan since Ben Roethlisberger retired. Kenny Pickett didn’t work out as a first-round pick. While Russell Wilson and Justin Fields had promise last year, Fields is with the Jets, Wilson struggled down the stretch and hasn’t been made a priority to be brought back, and the Steelers are looking at going into another season with a veteran quarterback who they’ll hope can lead them to a playoff win.
There seemingly hasn’t been a solid plan to address the position, and they’re feeling the effects of it right now. We’re over a week into the start of the legal tampering period, and while the Steelers signed Mason Rudolph, they really should know who their 2025 starter is so they can focus on what the rest of their team will look like. Rodgers’ holding the process up has limited their ability to do so, and the team’s key decision-makers could be feeling the heat from a frustrated locker room if this process drags on even further.
At some point, the Steelers will have to decide if playing the waiting game for Rodgers is worth it if it continues to frustrate the guys they have in the building right now. If Rodgers waits until the draft to make a decision, the Steelers might be better off cutting their losses and moving on if he can’t make up his mind.
