Aaron Rodgers is back as the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, reportedly for around $25 million for a one-year deal.
Hip, hip, hooray?
Who is actually celebrating here, aside from possibly Rodgers for getting maybe one last big payday before retirement?
When Mike Tomlin stepped down before his 20th season with the Steelers, it felt as if we were finally moving on from the purgatory of mediocrity that were the Steelers.
Finally, after years of being slightly above decent and spinning their wheels on getting a blue-chip prospect to usurp Ben Roethlisberger as franchise QB, Pittsburgh was going to take a risk.
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Sophomore signal-caller Will Howard or maybe even rookie Drew Allar would start. In a world where they magically showed signs of being a franchise guy and helped the Steelers to a good record, awesome, there’s a foundation to build around into the future.
The more likely case, though, is that either or both would struggle, the Steelers would bottom out for the first time in the 21st century, and Pittsburgh would head into a 2027 NFL Draft with the likes of Arch Manning, Dante Moore, and others possibly in the mix.
Now, though, the Steelers are right back to where they were with Tomlin. Rodgers is still good enough to win games as a quarterback in the league, and if the Steelers defense can bounce back, they could once again win around 10 games in a softer AFC.
And as other teams’ fanbases get excited over Manning and Moore, the Steelers will be stuck in the middle of the draft once again, either forced to take the sixth-best QB of the class, or more likely, ask Rodgers awkwardly once again if he wants to return as a starter.
There’s nothing worse in the NFL than being complacent.
Right now, the Steelers are the epitome of content with their spot as a perennial playoff contender, with little to no chance of ever making it past the first weekend of the postseason.
Congratulations, I guess.
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