If things continue to trend the way that they are, there seems to be a very good chance that four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers will end up the 2025 quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. With that pedigree comes a certain level of expected autonomy on his part. Steelers OC Arthur Smith dealt with that to a lesser degree in 2024 with Russell Wilson, but Rodgers is a whole different animal.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor thinks Rodgers probably wasn’t on Smith’s wishlist heading into the 2025 season.
“I think Arthur Smith is going to have his hands full with Aaron Rodgers,” Pryor said via 93.7 The Fan’s Evening Show on Friday. “Aaron Rodgers has been doing this for such a long time. Aaron Rodgers runs the offense the way that he wants to. To me, that’s gonna reduce Arthur Smith’s role. I can imagine that would be very frustrating because obviously we know that he was butting heads with Russell Wilson late in the season for similar reasons.
Reports surfaced after the season that Smith and Wilson had a rocky working relationship with some disagreements about how to run the offense. That report was later clarified with another report that Wilson had his ability to check out of plays stripped from him after the Week 13 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Rodgers isn’t going to want to play within a strict set of rules. And the Steelers shouldn’t really want him to. Part of the value in having a veteran with that much knowledge and experience is letting them put that to work. They see things that an offensive coordinator can’t possibly prepare for in the moment.
“This is probably not the situation that Arthur Smith wanted going into 2025,” Pryor said. “It seems like it could be another situation where he knows I can’t teach an old dog new tricks, so we’re just gonna have to take our cues from Aaron Rodgers.”
The Steelers just hosted Rodgers for about six hours on Friday. That meeting was reportedly “positive”. Among the topics they discussed was likely how the offense would be run. Mind you, Russell Wilson also had a lengthy visit with the Steelers and specifically talked to Arthur Smith for hours according to various reports. There is no guarantee that setting expectations now will lead to a smooth relationship in the future.
Keep in mind that Arthur Smith interviewed with a couple teams for their head coach openings this offseason. He also declined to go to college football to be UNC’s head coach despite him reportedly being the top choice there. Justin Fields would have been the ideal situation for Smith to mold him into a better quarterback. There was the potential for that to be a big resume-building season for him if Fields succeeded.
Now there is the chance that he will take a back seat to Rodgers. That will be an interesting storyline to watch if Rodgers is ultimately signed.
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