The Pittsburgh Steelers are flirting with Aaron Rodgers, as they have throughout the offseason. But that’s old news. The ‘new’ news would be their interest in Shedeur Sanders, who they invited into the facility on Thursday.
On Friday, Nick Baumgardner and Scott Dochterman published a piece giving their opinions on some of the top storylines through the offseason. In regard to Rodgers, Dochterman unsurprisingly thought the Steelers are the best fit.
“Rodgers wasn’t that bad last year for the Jets… He’d be a placeholder, but he’d also be a better option than what the Steelers have had since midway through Ben Roethlisberger’s penultimate season in 2020,” Dochterman wrote.
Being a placeholder isn’t something that seems to worry the Steelers. It’s the same approach the franchise took last offseason, bringing in Russell Wilson. Justin Fields would have been a step toward some sort of long-term consistency, but they chose to pursue Rodgers instead of matching the offer New York gave to Fields.
Rodgers still isn’t a bad option. Dochterman writes that he ‘wasn’t that bad,’ but looking at his season as a whole, there are reasons to be optimistic. Rodgers had a tough start to the year, as did the rest of his team. Once he got more comfortable on his now-healed Achilles, he looked much better towards the end of the year.
Yet, he’s still not on the roster. He may simply be waiting until after the draft to make his decision, since the QB carousel could change. That creates an interesting situation for Pittsburgh. They’re showing interest in this year’s QB class, including their latest visit with Shedeur Sanders.
Despite naming Aaron Rodgers as a fit in Pittsburgh, Dochterman thought the same thing about Sanders.
“There’s also no better spot for Sanders,” Dochterman wrote. “He dealt with his share of the spotlight at Colorado while playing for his father, but the opportunity to sit behind Rodgers and play for a strong leader like Mike Tomlin would remove the pressure that accompanies first-round quarterbacks.”
If there’s one thing about Sanders that stands out, it’s his confidence. As the son of Deion Sanders, that feels like a required trait. It certainly is if he lands in Pittsburgh, with the immense pressure of becoming the next franchise QB for a team as historic as this one.
All things considered, if the Steelers came out of this offseason with both Rodgers and Sanders, it would be really hard to complain. Rodgers isn’t what he used to be, but he still has one of the better arms in the league and understands the game like no other. Getting him and allowing their QB of the future to learn without any pressure for a year would be a job well-done.
