We are almost halfway through the month of May, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are still in a holding pattern with QB Aaron Rodgers. Now, insider Adam Schefter thinks that Rodgers will make a decision before the Steelers report for mandatory minicamp. But one thing that this entire saga has proven is that you shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch. I think most people would have expected a decision well before now.
And on top of waiting for an answer from Rodgers, the Steelers traded WR George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. So not only is the quarterback situation in flux, but the wide receiver position is weaker than it was two weeks ago. We can debate whether the situation is the same as last year, but insider Ray Fittipaldo thinks that it’s better simply because DK Metcalf is a much more professional wide receiver than Pickens.
But regardless of whether Rodgers signs shortly or not, and whether the Steelers are better off without Pickens, this offseason has felt problematic. Rich Eisen goes so far as to say that Pittsburgh isn’t behaving like the storied franchise it’s supposed to be.
“They’re waiting on Aaron Rodgers because he’s Aaron Rodgers,” said Eisen on Tuesday’s episode of the Rich Eisen Show. “And if he catches lightning in a bottle like his last few years in Green Bay as MVP, which the Jets were hoping to get and didn’t for many obvious reasons. The question is, will he be able to do it? But the reason why they’re waiting is because he might. It’s better than what they currently have. Maybe they catch the lightning in a bottle.
“So that’s why they’re waiting for him. This is very un-Steelerslike, it really is. It’s un-Steelerslike to say, ‘We’re cool waiting for you to work through whatever you’re working through as long as we feel like you’re coming.'”
Now, it would be very Steelers-like for the franchise to give a player under contract the time and space to handle something serious in the family. Head coach Mike Tomlin prides himself on being a players’ coach and taking care of his guys. However, Aaron Rodgers is not a player currently under contract. And I think that’s Eisen’s point.
The Steelers aren’t taking care of one of their own. They’re waiting for a 41-year-old quarterback who will be two years removed from tearing his Achilles’ in Week 1 of the 2025 season. And it isn’t like Rodgers was stellar last year. It reeks of desperation, not careful planning.
You could say the same thing about the situation with the wide receiver room, as well. General manager Omar Khan attempted to secure a high-profile wide receiver last offseason in San Francisco 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk. But that failed, and they missed out on other opportunities to upgrade. So, they went into the season with basically Pickens and a group of mediocre receivers. And the offense largely floundered.
So, to Khan’s credit, he addressed the position much more authoritatively. He traded for Seattle Seahawks WR DK Metcalf and signed him to a lucrative contract extension. But they didn’t have a secure answer at the quarterback position then, and they still don’t now. And now, they’ve sent Pickens off.
“You know what’s un-Steelerslike? You know what we’re going to do is we’re going to take yet another wide receiver that we draft superbly and, even though he’s got one year left and he’s incredibly affordable, we’re going to send him out,” Eisen said. “And without the quarterback plan fully in place, we’re going to trade for another wide receiver and pay him $30 million a year. That’s un-Steeler-like.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to think of themselves to be one of the premier franchises in the NFL. But how they’ve handled the Aaron Rodgers and George Pickens sagas doesn’t give anyone confidence in that. Desperate franchises hold out hope for a past-his-prime quarterback. Uncertain teams fail to plan and execute regularly at an important position like wide receiver.
Now, not everything is dark and depressing in Pittsburgh. The Steelers’ approach to the draft was decidedly Steelers-like. They focused on players who bring a lot of physicality to the table. You can point to new DL Derrick Harmon, RB Kaleb Johnson, and LB Jack Sawyer as guys who fit well in Pittsburgh.
However, the quarterback position is the most important position in football, and wide receivers are paid a lot of money to catch passes from those quarterbacks. So it makes a lot of sense why people like Rich Eisen are questioning whether the Steelers have lost their way.
