With each passing day of the Pittsburgh Steelers being in the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes, the media criticism intensifies. Spend a few minutes in the comment section of any of our articles related to the matter, and it’s quite clear that fan frustration is already at full tilt.
ESPN’s Chris Canty understands why.
“It’s embarrassing. I don’t know what the path forward is for the Pittsburgh Steelers for Mike Tomlin,” Canty said via Unsportsmanlike this morning. “They clearly need to upgrade from what the quarterback situation has been, ’cause it has been a revolving door and that’s gotta stop at some point. But I just don’t understand why you’re waiting for Aaron Rodgers and you’re not formulating a plan to give you more stability long-term at the most critical position in the entire sport. That just doesn’t make any sense. It’s poor planning.”
For all we know, they do have the concept of a plan in place to upgrade the position. Perhaps they like Jaxson Dart, Will Howard, Tyler Shough and they plan to draft one of them next month. Or maybe they are looking at their projected stockpile of compensatory draft picks for the 2026 NFL draft and think they have an excellent shot at grabbing the future of the franchise next year.
If the plan is to find the long-term upgrade next year, then they should just save themselves the embarrassment of remaining in the Rodgers waiting game for an indefinite amount of time. Leak to the media that you are out of the running for Rodgers and move forward with whatever other plans you may have.
“The front office has done you no favors, whether it’s Kevin Colbert, the previous general manager, or Omar Khan, the current general manager,” Canty said. “They have been derelict in their duties in terms of managing the roster and having a functional succession plan from Ben Roethlisberger to a new era of Steelers football.”
It would be one thing if this was Rodgers three years ago before his disastrous stint with the New York Jets but waiting this long for a five-win quarterback in 2024 is an entirely different story. Even Russell Wilson had seven wins with the Broncos in 2023 and people constantly talked about how horrible he was in Denver during the lead-up to his 2024 season with the Steelers.
Until the conclusion of this Rodgers saga, the Steelers are deserving of any and all criticism as far as I’m concerned. If you ask ESPN insider Dan Graziano, the Steelers won’t be moving forward until Rodgers makes his decision. The ball is in his court. Cam Heyward said it best, “You either want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, or you don’t.”
