Aaron Rodgers has still yet to make a decision about his future. That has left the Pittsburgh Steelers waiting, while the rest of the NFL keeps moving foward. It seems like the Steelers are the only team left in play for Rodgers, but he still hasn’t signed with them. At this point, there’s speculation that he could retire. Former NFL offensive lineman Mike Golic Jr. believes the Steelers should hope that Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders falls to them in the draft.
“I do think the buck stops with Pittsburgh,” Golic said on recently on his podcast, GoJo and Golic. “They’ve gotta be, at this point, praying for that. Pittsburgh, very quickly running out of answers.”
Golic is correct that the Steelers don’t have many solutions left for their quarterback problem. If they don’t land Rodgers, they could find themselves in a tricky situation. The remaining veteran free agents might not even be an upgrade over Mason Rudolph.
Reportedly, the Steelers would be okay with Rudolph as their starter this year, but they shouldn’t be. What is their ceiling with Rudolph starting for an entire season? He helped them make the playoffs in 2023, but he only appeared in a handful of games. Over the course of 17 games, he’ll probably look worse.
Therefore, the Steelers might be forced to draft a quarterback. Sanders is probably their best realistic option. Top quarterback prospect Cam Ward seems penciled into the Tennessee Titans with the first overall pick. Meanwhile, Sanders’ draft stock has continued to fluctuate.
It sounds like Sanders could go as high as the second or third overall pick. However, some analysts have speculated that he could experience a fall on draft day. With how valuable quarterbacks are in the draft, it’s unlikely that Sanders would make it to the Steelers’ pick at 21. Stranger things have happened, though. That just seems extremely improbable, but not impossible.
If the Steelers do land Rodgers, they probably won’t target a quarterback in the first round. No one knows when Rodgers will make his decision. Sanders isn’t a perfect prospect, but he could be a better option for the Steelers than Rudolph. Maybe he could even be their next franchise quarterback. However, there’s a lot that has to go right to make that happen. It’s not certain at all.
