Aaron Rodgers has chosen to patiently wait thus far in the early stages of free agency while the majority of the other dominos at the quarterback position continue to fall. Now, all signs point to Rodgers signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a potential landing spot that ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick believes makes sense for both sides.
After Justin Fields left town to sign with Rodgers’ old team, the New York Jets, the assumption has been that it will either be Russell Wilson or Rodgers that will head into the 2025 season as the starting quarterback of the Steelers.
In Rodgers and Wilson, you have similar profiles of players. Both have accomplished some great things in their respective careers, but have some significant question marks regarding their longevity in the NFL as they continue to age.
However, Louis Riddick believes that Rodgers has a clear edge over Wilson at this point, detailing on NFL Live on Wednesday that the Steelers would be “leveling up” at the quarterback position by bringing in Rodgers.
“Yeah, Arthur (Smith) is that dude,” said Riddick. “But I’ll tell you… Look, I think in the end, obviously, they just want to win. They want to level up at this position. I keep using that phrase because to run it back with Russ, it’s just not good enough. They need to level up. Aaron needs them just like they need him. He just needs to go play football. Don’t worry about being the GM. Don’t worry about trying to put in your own offense. Just go play football, work with Arthur, work with Mike. You’re naturally going to respect him. Look at the weapons that they have. Help these wide receivers, get them on the same page. You’ve got some weapons to throw to. You have a hell of a tight end in Pat Freiermuth.
“Work with the offensive line about where you’d like to be protected, how these guys can all communicate together. Have that positive impact on the team the way you want people to remember you as far as the end of your career. Then just go on and look at in Pittsburgh, you went in Pittsburgh, come on now. They’re all about football. That’s all they care about out there. You can best believe the fanbase out there is watching right now because there’s a lot of fans that I see on my social media feeds that are sitting there going, ‘We don’t want that influence here.’ Just do it the right way. It’ll pay off for you.”
“To run it back with [Russell Wilson], it’s just not good enough. [The Pittsburgh Steelers] need to level up. Aaron (Rodgers) needs them, just like they need him.” – Louis Riddick #NFL pic.twitter.com/751cZQIW2H
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 11, 2025
Interestingly, not everyone at ESPN is overly fond of this pairing. Former Steelers safety and current ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark recently expressed why he believes the Steelers shouldn’t sign Rodgers, likening Rodgers to Scar, the main antagonist in the hit movie The Lion King.
While it may not be a popular signing, Rodgers did have some bright spots last season in New York. So perhaps in a culture like Pittsburgh with an established head coach like Mike Tomlin, he could make the kind of impact that the Steelers are seemingly looking for at the quarterback position.