With Russell Wilson off the table, the Pittsburgh Steelers are seemingly the frontrunner to land Aaron Rodgers. Nothing is done yet, and with Rodgers, anything could happen. However, Pittsburgh seems like his most likely destination at this point. He’s not the same player he once was, but he’s still a fine starting quarterback. His fit within Arthur Smith’s offense might be more questionable. According to NFL insider James Palmer, people in the Steelers’ organization are curious how that dynamic would look.
“What’s fascinating, and talking to people in that building, is how is this gonna go down if he does get there?” Palmer said Wednesday on Bleacher Report’s YouTube channel. “Is this gonna be Aaron’s offense? Is this gonna be Arthur Smith’s offense? Both of them are very firm and very hard-headed. I don’t think Arthur’s gonna back down to him by any stretch, and maybe that’s what Aaron needs.”
It is interesting to consider what the Steelers’ offense would look like with Rodgers. At 41 years old, Rodgers has done a lot in the NFL. He could probably adapt to Smith’s offense, but at this point in his career, he might be better off sticking with what he knows.
“The difference is, are you gonna have Aaron’s verbiage and everybody else has to learn what he does? Or are you gonna have Aaron come in and learn what everybody else already knows, and you have one player learn the new verbiage?” Palmer said. “There are people in that building that are asking that question, that are curious how that’s gonna go down.”
Those are good questions to ask. There might be more involved than just plugging Rodgers into the Steelers’ offense. Throughout his career, he’s shown that he’s more comfortable lining up in the shotgun than dropping back to pass. That doesn’t exactly align with Smith’s offense. His system puts the quarterback under center more, focusing on the run game and play-action.
While that might seem like a conflict, Smith and Rodgers are both professionals. If the Steelers do sign Rodgers, they’d likely be willing to listen to some of his input on the offense. As a four-time league MVP, he might have some good ideas.
However, it might not be wise to totally cater the offense to Rodgers. He might only spend a one- or two-year stint in Pittsburgh. The Steelers changing their entire offense to suit him doesn’t sound like the best idea.
The New York Jets seemed to do a lot of things Rodgers’ way, and that didn’t work out great for them. The Steelers are probably better off having Rodgers learn their offense but also playing to his strengths. They did that with Wilson, and things went well for a while.
Rodgers likely offers more than Wilson did, so the Steelers should be able to win with him. He recently visited the Steelers, and Smith was reportedly among those with whom he met. The two of them might need to find some common ground, but if Rodgers signs with Pittsburgh, then that means he feels comfortable working with Smith.
