Aaron Rodgers has successfully made himself the center of attention in the NFL media for over two weeks now as he weighs his options. Because of this long, drawn-out process, every member of the Pittsburgh Steelers who appears in the media gets asked about Rodgers and has to give their two cents. The latest was DL DeMarvin Leal, who made a simple pitch to Aaron Rodgers on a recent podcast appearance.
“I’m not gonna say I’m gonna go to a silent retreat, but I will say is, we is here to work and we just on a whole nother level,” Leal said via the Psychotic & Iconic Sports Podcast on YouTube. “We only wanna win the Super Bowl. That’s all we trying to do.”
From an outsider’s perspective, the Steelers are not just a quarterback away from competing for a Super Bowl, and certainly not a quarterback who won just five games with the New York Jets last year. But from inside the locker room, they have complete confidence in themselves. The reality is probably somewhere in the middle.
If you were looking for reasons to be optimistic, they are out there. The offensive line is another year older with more experience and cohesion. That alone should boost the offense overall in both the running and passing games. And the blockbuster trade to acquire DK Metcalf finally gives the Steelers two viable outside receivers in the passing game.
“Getting DK made our offense completely stacked,” Leal said in response to the show host saying the Steelers are the epitome of being a quarterback away. “If you try to double both of them [Pickens and Metcalf], you got Pat [Freiermuth] and Calvin Austin right in the middle…And like I said, it’s gonna come down to how the QB walks in the building and how his mental is ’cause that’s all that matters.”
A lot would have to go right, but it’s not out of the question that Rodgers could have a big bounce-back season to finish out his career now that he’s another year removed from that nasty Achilles injury. Just look at how Brett Favre’s career arc played out when he left the Jets and had one more great season for the Minnesota Vikings at 40 years old. The pieces are in place for Rodgers to potentially have that type of year.
Leal stressed the fact that he doesn’t know anything, but he also looked like somebody who was excited for the possibility of Rodgers coming to Pittsburgh and what that could mean for the team’s chances in 2025.
Rodgers is basically out of options as Russell Wilson just agreed to terms with the New York Giants. It’s either sign in Pittsburgh or retire. All signs point to Leal’s hopes coming true.
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