The NFL draft is only a little over a week away, and Aaron Rodgers still hasn’t made a decision on his future. That’s left the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the waiting game. While Mike Tomlin didn’t put a firm deadline on Rodgers, the Steelers could be sick of waiting. They could turn to the draft to find a quarterback. Former NFL defensive lineman Marcus Spears thinks the Steelers need to give up on waiting for Rodgers.
“I think they need to move on,” Spears said Tuesday on ESPN’s Get Up. “If there was ever a team that needs to live with the consequences of not having a franchise quarterback, because I don’t want to use the word tanking, it needs to be the Pittsburgh Steelers. They can reset this whole thing based on how the season goes and try to position themselves to get a quarterback that can carry this franchise into the future.”
As long as Tomlin is with them, the Steelers aren’t ever going to be bad on purpose. That just isn’t his style. However, Spears makes an interesting point about the Steelers living with the consequences of their decisions under center.
The Steelers put themselves in this situation. The Kenny Pickett experiment was a disaster, with the Steelers not doing him many favors. Then, they acquired a young starter with potential in Justin Fields. He likely won’t ever be a franchise QB, but he could ultimately be a decent starter. Instead of sticking with him, the Steelers went with Russell Wilson, who was already clearly past his prime.
That ultimately led to the Steelers not wanting Wilson back, and Fields leaving for a different situation with the New York Jets. Now, Rodgers is basically the only starting outside option left for them. Although they could win games with Mason Rudolph starting, their ceiling would be limited.
The Steelers could still draft a quarterback in the first round this year. It sounds like they’ll consider Shedeur Sanders if he falls to them. However, quarterback is not a strength of the 2025 draft class. The Steelers might be better off taking their chances with next year’s class.
That’s still a big gamble, but it might be better for Pittsburgh in the long run. While Tomlin and the team want to compete for a championship this year, that just might not be possible. Even if they get Rodgers, they probably still won’t be contenders. The Steelers need to find their next franchise quarterback.
