The Pittsburgh Steelers addressed a few areas of their roster through the 2025 NFL Draft. They bulked up on the interior of their defensive line and added a powerful running back in Kaleb Johnson. Pittsburgh even added to the quarterback position, grabbing Will Howard in the sixth round. With all of that said, former NFL GM Mike Tannenbaum thinks DK Metcalf is one “loser” coming out of the draft.
“He is the star receiver they brought over from Seattle,” Tannenbaum said Monday on ESPN’s Get Up. “Over the last three years, he’s sixth in the NFL in terms of vertical route production. How about this: Assuming Aaron Rodgers is their quarterback, I almost thought this was a misprint, Aaron Rodgers has one 300-yard passing game, in his last 35 starts.”
The Steelers have made their interest in Rodgers clear from the outset of the new league year. However, before the draft it was reported that they might have had some interest in the QB class, specifically Shedeur Sanders. That made this weekend a massive turning point regarding the Steelers’ quarterback position.
We now know that Pittsburgh clearly didn’t have that much interest in Sanders, or any other QB from the class, really. The Steelers liked Howard enough to take him, but that was all the way in the sixth round. Even if Rodgers doesn’t play in Pittsburgh in 2025, Howard won’t start this season with Mason Rudolph already on the roster.
So it feels like Rodgers or Rudolph at this point, which makes Tannenbaum feel for DK Metcalf, apparently. His argument is that Metcalf is one of the best deep weapons in the league, and that Rodgers isn’t dominating how he used to, which won’t allow the Steelers to take advantage of that.
It’s true that Rodgers only threw for over 300 yards one time in 2024. However, it’s not like he just couldn’t move the ball down the field. He compiled at least 200 yards in 11 of 17 games and threw for at least 250 on seven occasions. He still threw for 229.2 yards per game.
None of these numbers are going to blow anybody away. But we’re not arguing about Rodgers being elite anymore. He probably doesn’t have any more 400-yard performances ahead of him or anything like that. But with the defense Pittsburgh has, plus its improved running game with Kaleb Johnson, Rodgers doesn’t need to put up prolific passing numbers.
Most importantly, Rodgers’ arm is still there. He can’t move as well as he used to, but it’d be wrong to suggest his arm has declined. Because of that, the Steelers shouldn’t worry too much about his lack of stat-sheet-stuffing performances lately.
