Steelers Now
Welcome to Steelers Morning Rush, our new daily short-form podcast with Alan Saunders, giving a longer perspective on a single news topic surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers or the National Football League. Today, it’s how the pursuit of Aaron Rodgers fits into the Steelers’ big-picture offseason plans.
The Steelers came into the offseason without an answer at the quarterback position, which is largely what has held the team back compared to the best of the AFC over the last few season. After an early survey of the landscape, Steelers general manager Omar Khan correctly assessed that there was not a long-term franchise quarterback available to the team this offseason.
So Khan turned to the future, using the team’s rare situation with departing free agents to line up a haul of compensatory picks that will give Khan the ammunition he needs to trade up for a quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft.
So why the pursuit of Rodgers? Because the team is still trying to win. They were a good team in 2024, and had a great defense. They can probably be that or better with slightly better quarterback play in 2025, and while Rodgers is certainly not a long-term answer, he could possibly provide that for one season.
The entire reason the team was selective about how they spent their free agent money this offseason was to maximize those 2026 comp picks and ensure that they’ll be able to get the quarterback they want in 2026, no matter what happens on the field this year, and once that process was put in place, they’re just trying to put the best team on the field they can for 2025.
Alan breaks it down.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: How Does Aaron Rodgers Fit into Steelers Big-Picture Offseason Plan? | Steelers Morning Rush
