Mike Tomlin may or may not have gone “lone ranger” last year on his decision to replace Justin Fields with Russell Wilson when the team was 4-2. But it sounds like the pursuit of Aaron Rodgers had a bit more of a consensus in the building.
“I gotta tell you, this was a decision by the organization in totality,” ESPN’s Brooke Pryor said via Get Up this morning. “Mike Tomlin obviously out in front to bring him in.”
There is reason to believe that Arthur Smith wanted to stick with Justin Fields last season. Several reports indicate that many inside the building didn’t agree with the decision to move on to Wilson. It sounds like there is a more complete buy-in on Rodgers this time around. Their three-month wait to get him backs up that idea. If Art Rooney II had any objections, he would’ve had plenty of time to make that known.
Part of that might have been the lack of realistic alternatives. They reportedly checked in on Matthew Stafford and Sam Darnold, but both options would have been a lot more expensive. And Stafford would have cost them valuable draft capital which is likely to be used on a first-round quarterback next year.
It’s easy to have a consensus in the building when the three options are Mason Rudolph, Rodgers and trading for Kirk Cousins. Rodgers gave them the best blend of staying competitive in 2025 while leaving all doors open for the future.
The most important relationship will be between the offensive coordinator and the quarterback. They were reportedly in touch throughout Rodgers’ lengthy decision process and got right to work on the playbook once Rodgers signed. Albert Breer even said that Smith has been building an offense with Rodgers in mind for the last few months. He wouldn’t have wasted his time doing that if there wasn’t a sense of the entire organization being unified in their pursuit of Rodgers.
Agree with it or not, this one can’t be pinned squarely on Mike Tomlin if Rodgers doesn’t perform to expectations. The entire organization was on the same page.
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