Aaron Rodgers to the Pittsburgh Steelers is finally official. The mystery man officially signed his one-year contract worth up to $19.5 million on Saturday after agreeing to terms with the team a day prior.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and company chose the short-term ‘solution’ rather than a long-term project. Rodgers is only signed to a one-year deal, and at age 41, his clock is ticking on his NFL career. There’s a reason he was contemplating retirement this offseason, and the Steelers are likely planning to have him for just a year, maybe two.
The Steelers’ brass made the interesting choice to go the ‘win-now’ mode by signing the aging Rodgers over drafting a young, developmental quarterback in the draft, such as Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, or Shedeur Sanders later in the draft.
Speaking about the Steelers signing Rodgers on their podcast, Nightcap, hosts and former NFL players Shannon Sharpe and Chad “Ocho Cino” Johnson spoke about the Steelers rolling with Rodgers as their quarterback for this upcoming season.
Being in a tough AFC North division, Johnson said that adding Rodgers gives the Steelers some ‘hope’ for the season and at a chance to compete with the rest of the division. But if Rodgers can’t provide a spark for Pittsburgh and if the Aaron Rodgers experiment fails, Ocho Cinco thinks it could cost Tomlin his job.
“If he doesn’t play well, you know, players get coaches fired now, and Tomlin could be on the hot seat,” Johnson said.
However, the team did sign Tomlin to a three-year contract extension at the conclusion of the 2024 season, suggesting they still believe in him as their head coach. Sharpe backed their action and said it wouldn’t make sense for Pittsburgh to move on from him shortly after extending him. Johnson rebutted by saying it doesn’t matter, because teams can still move on from coaches, even players, early into extensions.
Sharpe noted how the Steelers have never fired a head coach in their historic franchise history. Tomlin has been the coach for the last 19 season,s and Sharpe doesn’t see the team firing him regardless of how Rodgers performs this season.
In his 19 seasons, Tomlin has led the Steelers to a career record of 191-118-2 (including the postseason) and has won seven AFC North titles. He’s only missed the postseason six times and has never finished last in the AFC North. Tomlin has also led the team to two Super Bowls, including a Super Bowl victory in Super Bowl XLIII.
While Mike Tomlin’s job is usually safe in Pittsburgh, if this season turns into a disaster, maybe Art Rooney and Omar Khan decide to move on from him and Rodgers at the same time and start fresh. It would very likely take a losing season for that to happen, which Tomlin has yet to experience as Pittsburgh’s head coach.
Do you think Tomlin could get booted out of Pittsburgh if they have a down season?
