If you have any concern about the clash of personalities with Aaron Rodgers, George Pickens and DK Metcalf on the same offense, one of Rodgers’ former receivers doesn’t think that will be an issue.
“Aaron Rodgers is probably one of the greatest quarterbacks of keeping everybody happy at the wide receiver spot,” James Jones said via The Facility on FS1. “When you look at Garrett Wilson, you know what he had? He had his absolutely best season with Aaron Rodgers. You look at Davante Adams, you look at Jordy Nelson, you look at Greg Jennings, you look at myself, the best seasons came with Aaron Rodgers.”
It’s been a while since the Steelers have had a quarterback capable of spreading the ball around and keeping multiple different targets engaged throughout a game consistently. Russell Wilson had a brief period of games last year where he spread the ball around well, and those were some of the Steelers’ best games. Rodgers has made a career of doing that.
Even last year as the Jets struggled, Rodgers had 101 completions to Wilson and 67 to Davante Adams. Keep in mind that Adams didn’t join the team until Week 7. That is a healthy pace for both top receivers.
The Steelers’ passing game in recent years has forced a scarcity mindset, but Rodgers can help turn that around. They will still run a fair amount because that’s who the Steelers are. But you can’t sign Rodgers and not increase your passing frequency.
An involved receiver is a happy receiver and that has never been a big issue with Rodgers. A lot of the potential worries in Pittsburgh stem from his “red line” comments about WR Mike Williams that stirred up some drama. How would Metcalf and Pickens handle getting called out by Rodgers? Hopefully it doesn’t happen publicly often, but Jones says that isn’t always a bad thing when there is mutual respect.
“I don’t mind the callout if we all out here trying to win and do our job,” Jones said. “When he called the young fellas out, the young fellas was learning a whole new offense with Aaron and they weren’t where they supposed to be. To me, that’s not bad.”
Winning is the cure-all for tension in the locker room. As long as things are going well, I don’t think there would be too many issues. The Steelers have had success with much worse quarterbacks than Rodgers. Nothing tells me they will take a step back with him in 2025. To me, the concerns are not worth paying mind to based on Rodgers’ history.
