As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to search for their 2025 quarterback, Art Rooney II sounds as involved as ever. With critical decisions to be made and the mounting pressure on a franchise looking for a player who can deliver the team a playoff victory, ESPN’s Adam Schefter says Rooney isn’t sitting back and letting Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan do all the work.
“Ownership’s been involved in all this,” Schefter told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith during a spirited First Take discussion Thursday. “They’ve been involved. They were in on Matthew Stafford. Let’s not pass the ball to management. This is ownership, too.”
Speaking to the media shortly after the Steelers’ 2024 season ended, Rooney expressed a desire to retain Justin Fields or Russell Wilson. Neither happened. Fields took a better offer from the New York Jets while Pittsburgh soured on Wilson, pursuing Aaron Rodgers as Wilson inked a one-year deal with the New York Giants this week.
Presumably, Rooney signed off on the pivot. It’s not clear if he was involved in Rodgers’ visit last Friday, reporting has been mixed, but it’s reasonable to believe he was in the building. The last clear full-time starting quarterback available, the Steelers can’t afford to miss out on Rodgers.
Pittsburgh’s quarterback search began early in the offseason with another veteran. The Los Angeles Rams’ Matthew Stafford wasn’t given explicit trade permission but was allowed to gauge his value around the league, opening the door for him to be dealt. Schefter says if Rooney and Pittsburgh were interested, they weren’t willing to pay top dollar.
“With Matthew Stafford, you know what, at some point in time early on, the Pittsburgh Steelers could have gone all-in and said, ‘You know what? We’re gonna give up our first-round pick,'” Schefter said. “Is that what they wanted to do? No. Not for a 37-year-old quarterback. But they could have done that. They opted not to. They did not offer that.”
It’s not clear if the Steelers made any formal offer to the Rams. If they did, it clearly wasn’t good enough. The Rams and Stafford hammered out an agreement to keep him with the team, a wise decision for both parties. Stafford got to remain with an NFC contender, the Rams didn’t have to start over at quarterback and disrupt their window to win.
While Stafford would’ve been the most talented option of any quarterback this offseason, the Steelers choosing against giving up No. 21 overall is reasonable. Given Stafford’s age, potential looming retirement, and the contract required to keep him, a first rounder is a big ask. Adding Rodgers offers a similar skill set at likely a reduced price tag without giving up premium draft capital.
No matter who the Steelers were “in” and “out” on, all that’s remembered are results. In Pittsburgh, they haven’t been good enough. Competitive regular seasons, bitter playoff exits. Angst inside and outside the Steelers’ building is mounting, leading Rooney to get involved with the team’s biggest decisions to try and right the ship.
