While some would rather avoid the Aaron Rodgers saga altogether, there is another school of thought that the Pittsburgh Steelers are mismanaging the situation by not imposing a drop-dead date on Rodgers potentially signing with the team. After listening to him on The Pat McAfee Show yesterday, it doesn’t sound like that would have been a very fruitful negotiation tactic.
Jason McCourty thinks deadlines would be futile.
“I think he would’ve just moved on,” McCourty said via ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike this morning. “I don’t think it would’ve changed anything from his perspective. When you listen to what he said, it’s just like, I’m not holding anyone hostage. So I think if they would’ve given him that, deadline would’ve came it would’ve went and then they would’ve had to move on.”
It certainly wouldn’t be a good look to give a deadline and then relent after he fails to adhere to it. I can understand why some just want the Steelers to move on from Rodgers, but what other options do they really have?
Various reports state that Mike Tomlin is not afraid of heading into the season with Mason Rudolph as QB1, but I have a hard time buying the idea of him starting 17 games. It’s not in the Steelers’ DNA to enter a season without any chance of being competitive. Nor can they really afford to with aging defensive stars.
The other veteran options include Carson Wentz and Desmond Ridder, and I don’t think Arthur Smith wants to run things back with Ridder after it cost him his job with the Atlanta Falcons. They could trade for Kirk Cousins, but that would be much more costly than the $10 million that Rodgers said he is willing to play for.
Maybe the draft will change the calculus a bit if the Steelers draft a quarterback in the first round. Whoever that is probably wouldn’t start right away, but the Steelers could enter the season with Rudolph starting before handing over the offense to the rookie.
There is no guarantee that the quarterback they like will be available at No. 21 or even No. 83 if they wait until their second pick. Without any certainty there, they have to keep the door open for Rodgers and that unfortunately looks like a hostage situation regardless of how Rodgers wants to characterize it.
I keep coming back to Rodgers saying that if teams decide they need to move on then “by all means” do it. He said he is thinking about football very little right now, and Art Rooney II said the Steelers wouldn’t wait forever. Mike Tomlin more or less said they would be willing to wait until training camp, but how long before Rooney potentially pulls the plug?
