The long offseason staredown between Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers finally came to an end when the quarterback signed a one-year contract.
Rodgers joins the Steelers after a tumultuous and unsuccessful two-year run with the New York Jets and is being pushed to alter the way he operates behind the scenes, with one former NFL defender recently calling for him to take a backseat now that he is with a functional organization.
Gerald McCoy said the Steelers have been a consistent playoff team with a formula that works, and how good they are going to be in 2025 depends on how much Rodgers is willing to change his ways.
> “How far back on the bus is Aaron willing to sit? ‘You’re not the lead guy anymore. We have a formula here.’ The problem with the Pittsburgh Steelers is that they’ve gotten into the playoffs and they don’t have a guy who can make the throws. All they need him to do is make those particular throws that they need a quarterback to make, that these guys haven’t been able to make. So, if Aaron Rodgers is willing to take a backseat and just play his role, they can go as far as the AFC Championship,” McCoy [said](https://youtu.be/tOabvMtynGk?si=5LZfLaqruxbUIhoH&t=36) on “Speak.”
It looks like this might already be the case, as Rodgers hasn’t had the same sort of influence up to this point that he had in the past with the Jets and Green Bay Packers.
The Steelers haven’t brought in preferred coaches or receiving options like the Jets did, which could be a good thing at this stage of his career.
There are new, unfamiliar yet exciting weapons at his disposal, as the Steelers traded for D.K. Metcalf and Jonnu Smith this offseason while also replacing Najee Harris in the backfield with rookie Kaleb Johnson.
The Steelers arguably have been just a quarterback away from contention for a few years, and it’ll be interesting to see if Rodgers can be the solution rather than a problem.
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