The Pittsburgh Steelers are still in a holding pattern when it comes to finding their starting quarterback for 2025. They brought back QB Mason Rudolph after he spent the 2024 season with the Tennessee Titans, but they’re still eyeing former New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers.
Unfortunately, Rodgers does not seem to be in any hurry to make his decision. He’s weighing offers from both the Steelers and the New York Giants. But he also seems to be contemplating following the arc of the quarterback he replaced in Green Bay, Brett Favre, because he’s waiting to hear if there’s real interest from the Minnesota Vikings. How crazy would it be for Favre to go from the Green Bay Packers to the Jets to the Vikings, and then for Rodgers to do the same?
While the Steelers seem to be genuinely pursuing Rodgers as their starting quarterback for 2025, not everyone thinks that’s a great idea.
“The biggest thing is that Pittsburgh, looking for this kind of youthful movement at quarterback, it would be a step backwards from that type of approach from Mike Tomlin,” said former Steelers OT Max Starks when he joined the Joe & Q Show on Wednesday. “And wondering, hey, what are we doing here as a franchise? We talked about wanting to be able to get younger, dual-threat guys, guys that are mobile. And you’d be trading that for essentially a pocket passer, older guy, needs to be protected, needs to stay on top of being in the pocket, and all those types of things.”
As Starks says, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has talked up wanting a mobile quarterback for a while now. He had that kind of quarterback on the roster in 2024 in Justin Fields, but in Week 7, Tomlin opted for the older, less-mobile veteran in Russell Wilson. And despite a four-game slide to end the regular season (that became a five-game streak with the playoff loss), Tomlin never looked back at starting Fields. Now, Fields is with the Jets, Rodgers’ old team.
At one point, Aaron Rodgers was that mobile quarterback. While you wouldn’t confuse him with dynamic athletes like Fields or Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, Rodgers showed he could move around quite well when he was younger. He had a stretch of seven out of 10 seasons of averaging 5.0 yards per carry or greater from 2009-2018. He’s carried the ball 741 times for 3,573 yards and 35 touchdowns in his career.
But Rodgers is going to turn 42 years old in December. He’s not able to move around the pocket like he used to, much less threaten defenses with his career 4.8 yards-per-carry average. So, Starks has a point. Aaron Rodgers is the antithesis of a youth and mobility movement at quarterback.
The Steelers’ pursuit of Aaron Rodgers seems to be based upon the hope that Rodgers can come in and get the Steelers over the playoff hump in 2025. Nothing more. He’s not a long-term answer at the position. This seems to be strictly motivated by the near-decade of playoff futility plaguing Tomlin and the Steelers.
And who knows, it could work. Rodgers completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns in 2024 despite all the chaos in New York. Perhaps he could fare better in a more stable environment in Pittsburgh.
But there is the concern of how Rodgers would do behind the Steelers’ offensive line. Broderick Jones struggled at right tackle last season but is likely the starting left tackle in 2025 following the free-agent departure of Dan Moore Jr. And rookie Troy Fautanu missed most of the season, but if he’s healthy, he’ll start at right tackle.
But it could all be a moot point. Perhaps, as Tom Pelissero speculated Friday on the Rich Eisen Show, the Steelers will miss out on Aaron Rodgers and turn, once again, to Mason Rudolph. And a draft pick, too.
