Steelers Now
Former NFL offensive lineman and current analyst Ross Tucker doesn’t understand why the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to wait on Aaron Rodgers. If Rodgers truly wanted to be a Steeler, he would’ve signed weeks ago.
Tucker thinks Rodgers will eventually sign with Pittsburgh, but it’s only because he wants to stay relevant. His heart is really not in it anymore. As Chuck Noll used to say, “If you’re thinking about retirement, you’re already retired.”
“These are the Pittsburgh Steelers, OK?” Tucker said on Good Morning Football. “And they’re still waiting for this guy to decide if he wants to play. By the way, if a guy’s waiting this long to decide whether or not they want to play, they don’t really want to play. He doesn’t want to play. He doesn’t really want to play. I think he wants to stay relevant, so I think he will play for the Steelers, but this doesn’t make any sense either short-term or long-term for Pittsburgh in my mind.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin understands the angst among the fanbase at the quarterback position, but he confirmed that the team has a solid plan a the game’s most important position.
“We feel good about our plan at the position. I understand the angst in your community and the community that supports us,” Tomlin told Rich Eisen of NFL Network.”
Tomlin said the Steelers had “really productive” talks with Aaron Rodgers, but declined to discuss the hypotheticals.
The Steelers passed on the quarterback position with their first four picks, but they selected Ohio State signal-caller Will Howard in the sixth round. Given the circumstances, it appears the Steelers are extremely confident that Rodgers will eventually sign with them. That’s what many in fanbase and media are speculating.
“Rich, I’ll give you the lattitude to run with it because I know you will anyway,” Tomlin said. “We’ve had conversations. We feel good about our plan at the position. We’re excited about what potentially awaits us there.”
Prior to drafting Howard, the Steelers had just two quarterbacks under contract, Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. General manager Omar Khan previously said he intends to add two quarterbacks to the group before the start of training camp.
One of those could obviously be Rodgers, who has yet to make a decision about his future, but has remained in contact with the Steelers after his visit to Pittsburgh in March.
Steelers president Art Rooney II appeared on Steelers Nation Radio on April 25, where he reaffirmed that the team did not factor Rodgers into their draft strategy. He said that if Pittsburgh pounces on a quarterback, in the 2025 NFL Draft, he would not be the starter this fall.
“We really did not factor whether Aaron is coming or not into that,” Rooney said. “If we draft a quarterback – and we still might – probably not someone who’s going to start for us this year.”
Alan Saunders and Spencer Thomas contributed reporting for this story.
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