Unpopular Opinion: Aaron Rodgers was the Steelers best-case scenario at QB in 2025

When the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the dreaded long offseason, there are plenty of ideas to debate. As part of the triumphant trio on the Steelers Preview podcast, I’ve been known to often give a “Dave answer“ to various things as I often like to argue both sides of an issue. With this in mind, a new weekly segment has been born… Unpopular opinion.

There are plenty of arguments both for and against the Pittsburgh Steelers that might not go along with the majority of fans. Oftentimes I believe in these arguments, while other times I simply like to pose a counter argument for ones that are taking it too much to the extreme. For this reason, I’m going to offer some points about the Pittsburgh Steelers that go against the general fan narrative, or at least how I have heard things.

Next up is the Steelers finally having their guy at quarterback for 2025, and it’s a good thing…

Aaron Rodgers was the Steelers best-case scenario at QB in 2025

This week is a topic that is very polarizing in Steelers Nation at this time. While some fans are excited that the Steelers have brought in Aaron Rodgers at the quarterback position, others are disgusted by the move. But regardless of how fans feel about it, this might just be the best-case scenario for the Steelers quarterback position for 2025.

I can say this right now: I was not someone who wanted the Steelers to sign Aaron Rodgers. For the first half of March, when the idea came up, I was in the, “please, no“ crowd. I didn’t want everything else that went along with Aaron Rodgers, and I definitely didn’t want to pay what I thought someone who is not a team-first guy with his resume would insist on being paid.

But as the possibility grew, my feelings started to shift. It didn’t seem like it was going to be a massive contract for Rodgers. The more I looked into it, the more his teammates weren’t overly critical of him and how he handled himself. More importantly, it appeared that he still had quality football left in him, albeit not the same quality he brought as a four-time NFL MVP, but he was not “washed.“

When the Steelers approached the beginning of the 2025 league year, the one thing I wanted them to make sure they did not do in free agency was overpay a quarterback, particularly for multiple years, who wasn’t “the guy.” There were some options in free agency, but not great ones. In looking at things, the Steelers were going to have to pay more than what I think they should have in order to land one of those options. I wasn’t sold on any of them being “the guy,” so I did not want them to overpay.

Another thing I did not want the Steelers to do was to “run it back“ with Russell Wilson. When the Steelers faced top-notch competition, it was obvious that they were many shortcomings with Russell Wilson’s game. Although I used the term “short,“ that wasn’t his only issue although it was a problem. Wilson did not move through progressions and was more of a “one read, then check down” quarterback. Even though he had a Super Bowl resume, it just didn’t seem like running it back again next year was going to give the Steelers enough of a boost to make a difference.

I know many people were in the Justin Fields camp, as was I. But the biggest reason I wanted Fields wasn’t his quality of play, I felt he was a cheap enough contract to where he could potentially be the guy, but if he was not, it wasn’t going to break the Steelers. Unfortunately, he signed for a little bit more than what the Steelers were willing to offer. Rather than overpay, I’m glad the Steelers didn’t invest too much money into someone who wasn’t going to be “the guy.”

Then there’s Mason Rudolph. I’ve always loved Mason Rudolph. But I also need to be realistic about Mason Rudolph. Could he bring to the Steelers for 17 games plus the postseason what he did in his final three regular season games in 2023? That was going to be a lot to ask. Could he bring that same magic if having to start a few games if Rodgers gets injured in 2025? That is a whole lot more likely. While I could have kept my black and gold goggles on and really thought Mason Rudolph could be the guy for the Steelers this year, it would be hard to call it an upgrade from 2024.

For all these reasons, it looks like Aaron Rodgers was the best-case scenario for the Steelers for 2025. They are not locked into money beyond this year, or so it appears with the exact financial breakdown still to be reported. This does not keep the Steelers from trying to develop Will Howard, who could learn under Rodgers, or from drafting another quarterback next year. This also doesn’t keep the Steelers from dipping into the free agent market at quarterback next year if a crazy scenario happened to go down and someone unexpected hit the market.

The bottom line is, the Steelers did not overpay somebody who wasn’t the guy, and they have the freedom to continue to look for their quarterback of the future next year when there might be better options than what they had this year.

For me, I’m not worried about the future. Now I’m excited about what the Steelers can do this season. Bring it on.

To hear the latest Unpopular Opinion podcast, check it out in the player below. Be sure to check back for this podcast every Sunday morning during the Steelers offseason.