Finally, Aaron Rodgers is officially a Pittsburgh Steeler. Now that the wait on Rodgers is over, the Steelers have the rest of the offseason to figure out their identity for the 2025 season. For Rodgers and Arthur Smith, ESPN’s Mina Kimes thinks that might be easier said than done.
“He’s gonna run the Aaron Rodgers offense,” Kimes said on NFL Live on Friday. “Quarterbacks don’t get more accepting of change, usually older in their careers. And it is a little bit of a strange fit. Last year, Arthur Smith, that offense ran the fifth-most under-center snaps in football. Rodgers prefers to be in the gun. You saw that bottom-10 rate in New York. I don’t know what this marriage looks like.”
It’s true that Rodgers has mostly been in control of things wherever he’s at. Given his terrific 18-year tenure in Green Bay, he had a lot of leeway regarding the way that offense was ran. During his two-year stint with the New York Jets, Rodgers got even more.
With all due respect to the Jets, though, the Steelers are a much more stable franchise. Mike Tomlin isn’t a coach who lets one player come in take everything into their own hands. The Steelers could opt to bring in a familiar face for Rodgers, like Allen Lazard, but it’s hard to imagine them allowing Rodgers to take control of Arthur Smith’s offense.
With that said, there are reasons to question the fit between the two.
Kimes points to Rodgers’ preferring to be in shotgun, and Smith to have a quarterback under center. For Rodgers, it does make sense to be in shotgun more often. He’ll turn 42 during the upcoming season. While he was never one of the more agile quarterbacks in the league, he’s even less agile now due to his age and an Achilles injury in his rearview mirror. Starting from shotgun more often simply means he has to move less, which is easier on his body.
As Kimes mentions, Smith’s offenses typically have the quarterback under center much more. He likes to establish a running game and work play-action off of that, which works best with a quarterback at the line of scrimmage rather than in the backfield.
According to Kimes, nothing will work unless the Steelers are able to establish that run game.
“None of it will work, regardless of what the offense looks like, if they can’t run the football better than they did last year,” Kimes said. “… Rodgers needs to be part of a more-balanced offense.”
Last year, Russell Wilson got little help from the rushing attack. Najee Harris surpassed 1,000 yards for the fourth-consecutive year, but the Steelers weren’t efficient running the ball. The good news is third-round draft pick Kaleb Johnson does seem to be an excellent fit in Smith’s offense. He’ll have to be to help Rodgers at his age.
All of these are things the Steelers have to figure out. However, it’s also something they’re already doing. Reporting from Dan Graziano suggests that Rodgers and Smith have been in communication in recent weeks. Rodgers also visited the facility earlier this offseason, when he talked to Smith and others on the coaching staff. The optics of being under center or in the shotgun would be a topic that’s likely come up.
Thanks to Rodgers signing when he did, they’ll have plenty of time to figure that out anyways. While he did miss two weeks of OTAs, he’ll be there for mandatory minicamp and the rest of the summer. That should give Rodgers and Arthur Smith time to figure this out, which will obviously be important for the Steelers’ hopes in 2025.
