Quarterback has been a problem for the Pittsburgh Steelers since Ben Roethlisberger retired. They tried to find his successor in Kenny Pickett, but that experiment failed. Now, it feels like they’re stuck at the position. The Steelers are waiting on Aaron Rodgers, who still isn’t a long-term solution. They probably need to turn to the draft to actually solve their quarterback issue. Former NFL cornerback Jason McCourty believes fans should be excited if the Steelers sign Rodgers and select a quarterback high in the draft.
“For all the talk we’ve had about the Steelers all offseason, for their fans agonizing over the quarterback room, if you told me to start maybe mandatory minicamp, the fact that they could possibly have Aaron Rodgers as a starting quarterback and Jaxson Dart as a guy sitting behind him to learn, I would be fired up if I’m a Steelers fan,” McCourty said recently on ESPN’s NFL Live. “I’d say, ‘You know what? It was worth all of that to have this type of quarterback room.’
“But drafting Jaxson Dart without getting Aaron Rodgers, it seems like they’re just replaying what they already did with Kenny Pickett.”
Dart is one of the top quarterback prospects, hailing from the University of Mississippi. He seems to be largely viewed in the tier after the top two guys. That could put him right in the Steelers’ range. Quarterbacks are extremely valuable in the draft, though, so perhaps he won’t even make it to their pick at 21.
Opinions on Dart seem to be mixed. McCourty could be correct that the Steelers would replay the Pickett situation by drafting Dart without having Rodgers. The 2025 quarterback draft class is not strong. If it wasn’t for the position he plays, Dart would probably be getting less first-round buzz.
However, McCourty’s proposed solution could fix that. If the Steelers sign Rodgers, he would almost definitely be their starter over any rookie. That would allow Dart, or any other rookie, to sit and learn behind Rodgers. That could make them better in the future.
Rodgers might not love the idea of the Steelers spending their first-round pick on a quarterback, but he also might not care. If he signs with Pittsburgh, which seems likely, it’ll probably only be for a year or two. He’d likely understand why the Steelers would take a quarterback in the first round. Maybe Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin have even gone over that possibility with him.
Whatever the case may be, signing Rodgers and drafting a quarterback wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. While this is a weak quarterback class, any rookie would probably learn a lot from sitting and watching Rodgers. That would allow the Steelers to win now and try to build for the future.
The biggest issue is that it could preclude them from taking a quarterback in the first round next year, but that could be a dangerous game to play. While next year’s quarterback class looks better, there’s no telling how good it will actually be. If the Steelers like Dart or another prospect enough, then they might be worth taking a swing on, especially if they only have Rodgers for 2025.
