It seems very unlikely, but if the Pittsburgh Steelers were to sign New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers this offseason to start it would turn a ton of heads. There are plenty of reasons to stay away from Rodgers, but some still argue that Rodgers and the Steelers are a good match. While I wouldn’t make that argument, Kevin Clark recently did on The Mina Kimes Show featuring Lenny.
“For me, Rodgers to Pittsburgh makes the most sense,” Clark said. “I feel like that is, by far, the most logical option for both parties. The Steelers are ready to win now. They can’t take that many chances. I’ve seen people say they wanna keep working with Justin Fields. You worked with Justin Fields last year and you bench him for Russell Wilson and the team seemed to get better.
“Yeah, you can bring Fields back on an affordable deal, but I don’t think that’s the long term answer when you have a bunch of guys who are ready to win now and a defense that can win.”
Rodgers still has plenty of talent and can sling the ball down the field (he threw 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season), but he is 41 years old, immobile, and recently tore his Achilles. Yes, Pittsburgh has an aging defense that is near their decline, but is Rodgers really going to make that much of a difference and get Pittsburgh closer to a Super Bowl next season?
Bringing in Rodgers would likely lead to an offense similar to the offense Pittsburgh ran in Ben Roethlisberger’s final years: a lot of shotgun and pistol formations, with little play action. As Mina Kimes pointed out early in the podcast, a quarterback/offensive coordinator pairing of Rodgers and Arthur Smith could be a mess.
For one, Smith likes his quarterbacks to be able to play under center and run play action, something that an older Rodgers doesn’t love. Second, Rodgers and Smith are likely to bump heads, as Smith and QB Russell Wilson often had disagreements that they begrudgingly worked through.
One of those disagreements may have involved the use of play action. With Fields at quarterback, Pittsburgh used play action 31.1% of the time. With Wilson that number dropped to 25.3%. With the Jets last season, Rodgers used play action 25.8% of the time. It is highly unlikely that Smith would want to work with another quarterback who would struggle to run the offense he wants.
Fields may not be a world beater, but he can do what Smith wants, has a good relationship with Smith, and noticeably improved last season compared to his three seasons with the Chicago Bears. No free agent option gives Pittsburgh a great chance to win a Super Bowl, but taking a chance on Fields continuing to improve is a better option than running 41-year old Rodgers out there who has similar deficiencies as Wilson.
