The ink is dry, and the deal is done. Aaron Rodgers is officially a Pittsburgh Steeler. After months of hinting and teasing, the four-time MVP will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2025, but is that really an upgrade?
The Steelers seem to certainly think so. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler broke down team and the league perception of the move in a recent episode of SportsCenter.
“The Steelers do believe that they’re getting the best field vision from the pocket they’ve had since Ben Roethlisberger,” said Fowler. “They believe he’s still got plenty of arm strength and Jets’ coaches I’ve talked to think that he was a lot better than the stats showed last year.”
Despite the Jets tough season, Rodgers did put up at least adequate stats last year. He finished seventh in passing yards and eighth in passing touchdowns. More than that, he looked like he improved as the season went on. Some of that could be the team’s addition of Davante Adams, but some is likely from his Achilles tear recovery. That’s a good sign for a Steelers team who is hoping he can build on it and be even better two years removed from the injury.
Fowler also pointed out there are some questions with Rodgers that coaches seem to have. Primarily, his declining mobility. Now in his early 40’s, he wasn’t the magician of old last season with the Jets. While it was clear his mobility improved down the stretch of the season, much of what made Rodgers so special from the pocket is no longer there.
It’s also fair to wonder about his fit in Arthur Smith’s offense. Rodgers, who notoriously likes to play his certain brand of football, will try to adjust to Smith’s system. Fowler reported that Rodgers and Smith have been on the phone and communicated about different tweaks that can be made to the system, already putting those wheels in motion.
With a strong arm and his aforementioned field vision, teams still struggle to rank him too low in the overall hierarchy of NFL quarterbacks. Gone are the days of him being ranked within the top-10 of the league, but he still figures to me middle-of-the-pack. Something the Steelers haven’t had since Roethlisberger hung up the cleats.
“Teams I’ve talked to believe that Aaron Rogers, at this stage, is a middle-of-the-pack quarterback,” said Fowler. “He’s probably ranked 15 to 17 among the top 32. He’s not that Top-10 guy anymore.”
The question then becomes – are the Steelers good enough to win a Super Bowl with an average quarterback? Looking at the roster and looking around the NFL at the teams, it seems unlikely. However, it has been reported by Ian Rapoport that the Steelers are likely to try and take a swing at another impact player, inquiring about Atlanta Falcons’ tight end Kyle Pitts.
Truthfully, unless that player is Top-5 in the league at a position of value, it’s still hard to see a path where Pittsburgh tops their recent ceiling of 10 wins. But who knows? Maybe Rodgers can turn back the clock for one last season.
