The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed QB Aaron Rodgers to a one-year, $13.65 million contract, and that money would make him the 19th-highest-paid starting quarterback in the NFL. On The PFF NFL Show, hosts Dalton Wasserman and Trevor Sikkema agreed that Rodgers is now the best value on the Steelers.
“$13 million for a starting quarterback is not that bad and they don’t have a ton of great candidates here,” Wasserman said. “So if he does what he needs them to do, he’s a competent starter who’s roughly on the same level as Russell Wilson last year, and he gets them to the playoffs, that’s a pretty good value at $13.5 million.”
Wasserman said he also considered Zach Frazier, Joey Porter Jr. and Nick Herbig, and Trevor Sikkema agreed that Frazier would’ve been the pick had the team not signed Rodgers.
Rodgers had said publicly he would play for $10 million, and while only $10 million is guaranteed, there’s almost zero chance that Rodgers will get cut before Week 1, meaning the $13.65 million will be his base salary. He can reportedly reach up to $19.5 million in incentives, although what those incentives are isn’t known yet.
With rising quarterback salaries around the league, it’s a good contract for the Steelers, who will see if Rodgers can be the veteran quarterback to get them over the hump after the Russell Wilson experiment fell apart late in the 2024 season. Given that it’s only a one-year deal, Rodgers might not have some of the value that Frazier, who’s still on his rookie deal and can provide high-level play for multiple seasons on the cheap, may provide. But it’s ideal for the Steelers in 2025 and gives them plenty of money still to play around with for next season.
Despite naming Rodgers the best value on the Steelers, Wasserman isn’t a fan of Rodgers’ fit in Pittsburgh. He opened the show talking about the move and said he could see the Steelers being worse than 2024.
“With Mason Rudolph starting, there’s not a chance I would’ve picked them to make the playoffs. This makes me think about, maybe if I’m making a prediction, they make the playoffs like last year and lose in the first round,” Wasserman said. “I just don’t see this team as any better than they were last year, and honestly, [Russell] Wilson had a better passing great, he could work the ball vertically down the field, there’s a chance this could be even worse than last year.”
After going 5-12 and struggling at times with the Jets last season, there is a chance that Rodgers isn’t as good as Pittsburgh is hoping. Wasserman and Sikkema believe he won’t be able to get the most out of DK Metcalf and will struggle to throw the ball downfield like Russell Wilson did last year. I think it’s too early to judge whether Rodgers will be the quarterback he was last year with shaky offensive line play with the Jets and make that determination, but it’s a move that does raise some questions.
Regardless, his contract is cheap for a starting quarterback, and he does represent good value for the Steelers in 2025 and gives them an upgrade at the game’s most important position as they look to make a run in the postseason.
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