Aaron Rodgers Changes the 2025 Steelers

While it has been several weeks since the official signing of Aaron Rodgers to the Pittsburgh Steelers, I personally needed some time to process the move. As I have written in previous articles, I was hoping that this signing would not come to fruition. The drama alone surrounding whether Rodgers would sign or not for the past several months was enough to deter me. After Pittsburgh chose to draft such high character players in the draft and trade away George Pickens, I hated the idea of it even more. It seemed like the Steelers were really trying to shift locker room culture away from drama and selfishness and more towards teamwork and selflessness. While I will never deny Rodgers’ talent or accomplishments, he just doesn’t fit this mold in my head. Too many times, I have seen Rodgers be arrogant towards his teammates, and if I’m being honest, I have questioned his leadership abilities.

Nonetheless, the move happened. I needed a few weeks to be more okay with it, but I couldn’t ever turn my back on the black and gold whether I agree with front office decisions or not. Setting my personal feelings aside, I can say one thing with confidence about Aaron Rodgers: he 100% changes the 2025 Steelers.

Based on the available options at quarterback, I believe he gives Pittsburgh the best chance to win this season. The man has won a championship, a Super Bowl MVP award, 4 NFL MVP awards, and displays the best ball security of maybe any quarterback ever. In his 248-game NFL career, Rodgers has completed 65.1% of his passes for a total of 62,952 passing yards, 502 touchdowns, and 116 interceptions. To put this into perspective, let’s compare to some other notable quarterbacks of the same generation.

• Ben Roethlisberger: 249 games played, 64.4% completions, 64,088 passing yards, 418 touchdowns, 211 interceptions
• Tom Brady: 335 games played, 64.3% completions, 89,214 passing yards, 649 touchdowns, 212 interceptions
• Drew Brees: 287 games played, 67.7% completions, 80,358 passing yards, 571 touchdowns, 243 interceptions
• Philip Rivers: 244 games played, 64.9% completions, 63,440 passing yards, 421 touchdowns, 209 interceptions

All of these men will likely end up in Canton someday. At the very least, they will be in the conversation. Hopefully this helps to show just how many interceptions Rodgers doesn’t throw. Impressive, huh?

I am also intrigued by the Tomlin-Rodgers pairing. It’s no secret that the two men have had mutual respect for each other for years. After watching the Steelers offense appear anemic for the vast majority of the past several seasons, Rodgers’ ball security may be the secret to gaining Tomlin’s full trust. Instead of playing offense conservatively to not lose, maybe the Steelers will finally air the ball out, take some chances, and play offense to win. This is something I as a fan have not seen consistently since Ben Roethlisberger, and I’m chomping at the bit to see more offensive production from the black and gold.

Not only is his ball security unmatched, but Rodgers’ playoff experience could help this team as well. Rodgers has played in 5 NFC championships and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XLV (sore subject, I know). While his overall playoff record is 11-10 and he has only made one Super Bowl appearance, he has had many deep playoff runs. The Steelers are made up of many players now that have never tasted playoff success. The presence of Aaron Rodgers may help the rest of the roster to buy into the possibility of playoff success, and he may be able to teach the younger guys what it takes to perform in those big moments and win in the postseason.

I think the majority of my beef with Aaron Rodgers stems from how I’ve seen him carry himself and treat his teammates at times over the years. There have been too many instances of catching him yelling at his linemen after a play or shifting blame away from himself after a tough loss in his postgame interviews. Perhaps this is an ignorant opinion. Perhaps my perception is not an accurate depiction of who the man really is inside of a locker room. However, Rodgers has always seemed incredibly talented yet arrogant to me. I have questioned just how much of a team player he is.

Hearing what has happened so far though during Rodgers’ time with the team, I will say I like what I’m hearing and seeing. Prior to his official signing, he had a workout with newly acquired WR DK Metcalf. He has discussed Will Howard and his willingness to teach the young man and help him succeed in the NFL. These are green flags to me; he is doing the right things to help the Steelers win and improve, and he hasn’t even taken an official snap in black and gold yet. With this in mind, maybe I have had the wrong perception of Rodgers all along. The instances of yelling at teammates might be his way of holding them accountable and trying to make them better. The shifting blame in press conferences might just be his thought process out loud of what went wrong in the game and finding areas the team can improve on. One can hope for this! If Rodgers can step in and be a great leader for this team, I think my opinion of him shifts greatly.

As much as I still don’t love this signing, Rodgers improves the Steelers roster in 2025. He is bringing talent, experience, and a high football IQ to the Steel City. Here is to finally breaking the playoff loss streak with number 8 at the helm.