At long last, Aaron Rodgers has signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. While that allows the Steelers to go into the 2025 season with an identity on offense, did they really improve that much? Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky does think Rodgers can still play, but he doubts the Steelers got any better with him in the fold. And looking toward the upcoming season, he’s not optimistic.
“Worst place they could be in,” Orlovsky said Monday morning on ESPN’s Get Up. “He’s [Rodgers] good enough, they’re [Steelers] good enough, they’re gonna go 9-8, 10-7. They won’t matter in the playoffs and we all know that. And then they’re not bad enough to get a top-eight pick and finally find the quarterback of the future. This still is a subpar offensive line. They only really have DK Metcalf on the perimeter. Great, we’re gonna be a contending team. Are we really gonna matter? No.”
Orlovsky’s assumption that the Steelers are in the “worst place” sure sounds a lot like the reality Pittsburgh has been living for several years now. Both the 2023 and 2024 seasons are good examples of that. Each year the Steelers went 10-7, sneaking into the playoffs as a wild-card team only to lose to a superior opponent in a game that never felt winnable. The following offseasons, they’ve drafted too late to think about taking a quality option at quarterback.
It’s clear that Orlovsky isn’t a big believer in Pittsburgh this year. However, there are some reasons to think the Steelers are in a better place with Aaron Rodgers leading the offense. He’s certainly an improvement over Mason Rudolph, but even looking back to last year, he could be a better choice than Russell Wilson as well.
With both Wilson and Justin Fields last year, the Steelers prioritized ball security. They didn’t take many risks and rarely targeted the middle of the field. With Rodgers, they can maintain that ball security while hoping to be a little more aggressive at the same time. Rodgers has historically been one of the better quarterbacks in terms of keeping the ball away from the defense. And he’s got a stronger arm and is much more accurate than any quarterbacks the Steelers have had in recent years. He can target certain areas, including the middle of the field, more aggressively than any quarterback the Steelers have recently put out there.
If everything goes right around Aaron Rodgers, this offense does have the potential to be a good one. The offensive line has a lot of upside, but the Steelers will need some specific members to stand out, most notably Broderick Jones at left tackle. If Kaleb Johnson gets out to a fast start, the Steelers will have quality running back play. And DK Metcalf is quite a talented first option at receiver.
However, all of those things going right is a big if. Relying on a third-round rookie running back to contribute right away is a big ask. At receiver, there isn’t a ton to talent outside of Metcalf. And Rodgers could have a big decline in performance, turning 42 years old this season.
With that said, if the Steelers end up in purgatory again, this hole might be easier to climb out of. Pittsburgh has a load of draft picks next April. They seem destined to trade up, if needed, to draft a quarterback. With a decent chance of them landing their guy next offseason, taking a shot to contend with Aaron Rodgers this year isn’t the worst thing in the world.
