The Pittsburgh Steelers played a game of musical chairs this free agency. No one wants to be the last team without a seat. With nearly every practical veteran quarterback option off the board, the Steelers are now playing a new game of chicken with Aaron Rodgers. And if they miss out on him, their hopes of ending an eight-year playoff drought takes a severe hit. Thursday, ESPN analyst Mina Kimes criticized the team’s process.
“I would’ve liked to see them do other things earlier,” she said on NFL Live. “I don’t really understand their decision-making process in all this. They are backed into a corner with Aaron Rodgers.”
“I don’t really understand their decision-making process in all of this. They are backed into a corner with Aaron Rodgers.”@minakimes says the Steelers are not “operating from any position of strength” with the QB options available 😳 pic.twitter.com/HbR1iPWzuN
Pittsburgh made attempts at other quarterbacks like Justin Fields and Sam Darnold but were outbid by the New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks. Clearly souring on Russell Wilson, it’s left them pinning hopes that Rodgers joins following a last Friday visit to the team facility.
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The Steelers have turned over their quarterback room for the second-straight season, though former draft pick Mason Rudolph returns following a one-year stint in Tennessee. If Rodgers shuts the door on them, Rudolph could become the starter. It would put Pittsburgh at a clear disadvantage in an AFC North featuring Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson and the AFC at large, which features a half-dozen of the league’s top 10 quarterbacks.
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Mina Kimes floated Kirk Cousins as a potential Plan D but she noted his 2024 struggles makes him difficult to rely on, especially given his background playing in indoor environments. There’s no roof on Acrisure Stadium in December.
“They’re really not operating from any position of strength in terms of their options,” she said.
Looking back, Kimes believes Pittsburgh should’ve been more aggressive when free agency offered options.
“I ask, why were they not on the phone with the Seahawks about Geno Smith if all it took was a third rounder?”
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Instead of Pittsburgh, Smith reunited with Pete Carroll to lead the Las Vegas Raiders. Even avoiding specifics, it’s fair to critique the Steelers’ process. Playing a waiting game of hoping Rodgers signs. Assuming that happens, it’s valid to note the team’s grab-bag process of evaluating quarterbacks, set to set its fifth different one in five years. With a 41-year-old Rodgers, the Steelers are poised to do it all again in 2026.
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