The Pittsburgh Steelers almost always prioritize current success over anything else. But several of their decisions this year seem to have a future-minded slant. After reportedly trading George Pickens for a 2026 third-round pick, there is no doubt that the Steelers made themselves a worse team for the 2025 season on talent alone. ESPN’s Matt Miller took to X to weigh in on the state of the Steelers.
“This is the worst Steelers roster of the Mike Tomlin Era,” Miller wrote.
As it stands now, without any clarity about Aaron Rodgers, it’s hard to argue with his assessment. Especially when looking at the offensive side of the ball. Mason Rudolph passing to DK Metcalf and a bunch of WR3 and WR4 types isn’t a recipe for success. Jaylen Warren is good, but he’s not an elite back and it’s hard to rely too much on rookie success from Kaleb Johnson.
If Rodgers ultimately signs and the young offensive line takes a meaningful step forward in 2025, then I think the offense will be better than the 2024 version in Pittsburgh. But that is relying on multiple layers of assumptions to get to that point.
I am less concerned about the defense, but its key players are getting up there in age. T.J. Watt will turn 31 years old in October, Cam Heyward just turned 36 years old yesterday, and Minkah Fitzpatrick will turn 29 in November. I think they got better this year with Darius Slay, Derrick Harmon, Juan Thornhill and Jack Sawyer, all of whom should bolster the defense.
So what were some of the worst rosters? The 2019 roster after Ben Roethlisberger’s injury was pretty poor, but the Steelers didn’t head into the season with Duck Hodges in mind. The 2021 and 2022 rosters weren’t great either with the first offensive line overhaul failing miserably and the transition from Roethlisberger to Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett. Some of the early-to-mid 2010s defenses were talent deficient as well.
If Rodgers doesn’t sign, this will be right up there with some of those groups as the least competitive Steelers rosters to enter a season in the 19 years of Mike Tomlin’s head coaching tenure. Fortunately, it does seem like Rodgers is set to sign sometime this month with a chance to elevate the offense beyond its current outlook.
