Nothing about this offseason has been very Pittsburgh Steelers-like. In fact, you can argue that’s been the case for the last several seasons. For a team that has an undeniable culture of winning, that just hasn’t been the case for the last decade. We’ve heard ad nauseam about Mike Tomlin’s non-losing season streak, but that’s part of the problem in Pittsburgh. Super Bowl wins and appearances are no longer the goal. It’s been replaced by not having more losses than wins in a season.
The Steelers have not won a playoff game in the last eight years and have won just three total since 2011. Two of those wins have come against backup quarterbacks (Matt Moore, A.J. McCarron). It’s been quite some time since the Steelers have been legit Super Bowl contenders, and the revolving door at quarterback in the post-Ben Roethlisberger era is just one of many issues.
But rather than drafting and developing an option, the Steelers are trying to microwave the position with veterans. Russell Wilson was brought in last year, and the Steelers believed their culture and coaching could get him back to the way he played in Seattle. While the marriage started off well, Wilson lost his last five starts (including playoffs), and the offense never scored more than 17 points during that stretch.
The Steelers made the right decision moving on from Wilson this offseason, but rather than drafting a young quarterback early or signing a younger option like Sam Darnold in free agency, they opted to try the veteran quarterback option. This time, it’s a [41-year-old Aaron Rodgers](https://stillcurtain.com/pittsburgh-steelers-escape-out-of-playoff-darkness-more-likely-after-aaron-rodgers-signing-01jpwvcqb8sk) coming off the worst season of his career.
Aaron Rodgers joining the Pittsburgh Steelers is a bigger gamble for Mike Tomlin than anyone realizes
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Can we make excuses for Rodgers in New York? Sure. He was coming off a torn Achilles, and it took a while for him to get back up to the speed of the NFL. The offensive line suffered some injuries, and the defense didn’t provide a good enough backstop for an aging Rodgers. All valid excuses. But Rodgers has been in decline for a few years now, and nothing we saw last season suggests he’ll be back to his MVP ways in 2025.
So why take the gamble if you are Mike Tomlin and the Steelers? The answer is that they are desperate. They whiffed on the Kenny Pickett pick back in 2022 and moved on from him before Year 3. Justin Fields showed flashes in 2024, but Pittsburgh was unwilling to pay him low-end starter money.
The Steelers are a stuck franchise and are grasping at name-brand players, hoping they can find the fountain of youth in Pittsburgh. Tomlin desperately wants to keep his non-losing season streak alive, and the fact that the Steelers have gone this long without a playoff win is a stain on his legacy.
Could the move work out? It’s possible. If Rodgers can be even an average NFL quarterback and the defense can be elite, it’s not hard to squint and see the Steelers winning a playoff game. Maybe his presence will give the offense just enough of a jolt to get back on track, and maybe he can have one final run in the postseason.
But there are so many ways this could go wrong for Pittsburgh that the juice might not be worth the squeeze. What happens if Rodgers is completely washed up? Or what if he's just good enough to get them to 9-8, but narrowly misses the playoffs? What if the presence of Rodgers in the locker room rocks the culture? What if he’s just not a strong fit in Arthur Smith’s offense?
Tomlin has clearly been the one pushing for Rodgers to sign, and now that he has, he’ll have to wear it, good or bad. And after last year’s debacle with Russell Wilson, his track record with veteran quarterbacks is already pretty shaky.
If this move doesn’t work out for the Steelers, it could end up being the thing we remember the most about the Mike Tomlin era. We might remember him like we do Rex Ryan and some other great defensive coaches who never could quite figure out the quarterback position, no matter how hard they tried.
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