Colin Cowherd thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers have one commonality. They aren’t taking their situation seriously. The Steelers still don’t have their quarterback depth chart set and Rodgers remains without a team. As the 2025 OTAs begin this week with clubs coming together for full offseason workouts, Pittsburgh remains in the same holding pattern it has sat in since mid-March. Waiting on Rodgers to determine if and when he’ll join.
Cowherd spent part of his Wednesday show blasting both camps for their nonchalant nature.
“Neither take the duty of quarterback with great urgency,” he said on FS1’s The Herd. “Both the Steelers and Aaron have a ‘Yeah, we’ll get to it eventually. I’ll sign with the team eventually. We’ll figure out the quarterback eventually.'”
Publicly, the Steelers have showed little alarm over their unusually long wait. Mike Tomlin has publicly downplayed the need for a Rodgers answer this spring, remarking during owner meetings that training camp is when teams need clarity. Reporting locally and nationally indicates the team is willing to wait until the start of the season should it take that long. Such a timeline feels unlikely but then again, few predicted this saga to remain ongoing back in March.
Cowherd pointed to the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers as teams doing the right things to prepare.
“Josh Allen in his prime, better at this point, arguably better ever. More committed, is at his team OTAs,” he said. “I think about San Francisco and Kyle Shanahan. They just signed Brock Purdy to a massive deal. And yet this year in the draft, Kyle Shanahan says, ‘I want another quarterback.’ And they draft this kid out of Indiana.”
Cowherd is referring to seventh-round pick Kurtis Rourke, who will fight for a backup job this summer. Pittsburgh drafted a quarterback, too, selecting Will Howard in the sixth round. A strong value pick already bringing plenty of buzz about his future and potential, though the Steelers don’t have plans to play him early in his career.
For Rodgers, OTAs and offseason practices may not mean much. But they mean a lot to a young group around him losing out on opportunities to work with him. Most if not every other starting quarterback in the NFL is attending his team’s voluntary OTAs sessions. Comparatively, Pittsburgh is behind. For a team already lagging in a competitive AFC North, there’s only more ground to make up.
Pittsburgh is banking on the juice being worth the squeeze. The idea that waiting on Rodgers is still the best path for the Steelers to compete and win. But the longer their wait lasts, the more valid the criticisms thrown their way becomes.
