Following the trade of wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ attention now shifts back to the quarterback position, where they continue to wait for a decision from 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers.
The Steelers losing one of their best offensive weapons could change things for the veteran quarterback, who wasn’t even sure he wanted to play football during his last public appearance.
For ESPN’s Damien Woody, a former NFL offensive lineman, the Steelers shouldn’t even be thinking about Rodgers.
Appearing on ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike Thursday morning, Woody stated the Steelers are stuck in mediocrity and need to do the hard reset that is required, which could even include trading star outside linebacker T.J. Watt to help them get where they want to go.
“I’m just like, why are we even talking about Aaron Rodgers anymore? If Aaron Rodgers was questionable about going to Pittsburgh before the trade, why in the world would Aaron Rodgers go to Pittsburgh after the trade? When you give up one of their best weapons in this move, like, I don’t even know what the Pittsburgh Steelers are,” Woody said, according to audio via ESPN Radio. “I don’t think they’re [an] average team, to be honest with you. So it’s like, listen, I’ve said this about the Pittsburgh Steelers, I’ve said this in sports in general. I think the worst place you can be in sports is average.
“Being in the middle is the worst place you can be in sports and Pittsburgh for some time now, ever since Big Ben Roethlisberger left, they’ve been just [stuck] in in mediocrity because you don’t have an opportunity to get a quarterback.”
Since Roethlisberger retired, the Steelers have been stuck in quarterback purgatory. They’ve gone through Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Rudolph is back again, this time as a possible backup, too.
It’s been a bit ugly at the position, and yet the Steelers still continue to find a way to be competitive and in the playoff picture.
For Woody, that’s been a detriment for the Steelers, because it’s caused them to continue to pick in the 20s in the NFL draft, well out of the window to land a quarterback.
“So like Pittsburgh needs a little bit of…they need a reset in order to really get this thing where they want to go,” Woody said. “Forget Aaron Rodgers. Move on from that. You need to reset, get a quarterback and then try to contend from there.”
Woody isn’t exactly wrong. The Steelers need to find a quarterback who can be a franchise guy. What they’ve been doing over the last few years isn’t exactly working when it comes to trying to find that guy moving forward, even with the team being competitive and in the playoff picture.
But after the trade of Pickens and the puzzling direction of the 2025 season while they wait for Rodgers, Woody wants to see the plug pulled and a full reset.
That even means trading Watt.
“Because it gets you where you need to go, it gets you where you need to go as an organization,” Woody said. “T.J. Watt is beloved in Pittsburgh, one of one of all-time great Steelers. There’s no question about that. But where have the Pittsburgh Steelers been with T.J. Watt?
“Yeah, they get in [the playoffs] and then they get bounced in the first round. Any true and honest person looking at the Steelers, I would say, ‘You know what? We would be in a better place if we traded T.J. Watt, gain more assets. ‘Cause we need a quarterback, we have to get a quarterback.’ You can’t win in this league if you don’t have a quarterback.”
While it is true that you can’t win in today’s NFL without a quarterback, the Steelers have plenty of assets for the 2026 NFL Draft that should have them in position to try to land a franchise quarterback. They are projected to have 12 picks in next year’s draft, which will be in Pittsburgh, too.
Trading Watt probably gets you another second or third-round pick, considering he needs another contract, too. And then, you have to go about replacing Watt, which seems like a monumental task.
On paper, it sounds easy and feasible. Trade an elite player, get draft capital and reset. But in reality, it’s very hard to execute in today’s NFL.
