One year ago, Art Rooney II exclaimed that the Steelers needed to return to their winning ways. Omar Khan seemed to take Rooney's edict to heart to make that happen by trading for Justin Fields and signing Russell Wilson, all the while sending Kenny Pickett to the Eagles. In the draft, they attempted to address the offensive line to allow Arthur Smith to run the offense he envisioned.
It appeared that the plan might have some success. Fields gave the Steelers a winning record until Wilson returned from a calf injury. In Wilson's debut, it seemed that he might make all Denver fans eat a healthy dose of crow.
Then, like a house of cards, Wilson and the offense collapsed. The 36-year-old QB flamed out and put all the pressure on the defense, which had made big plays early in the season but failed to come through. Despite a few good games, Najee Harris never got on track, and Pat Friermuth seemed to be missing in action for most of the season.
At the end of it all, the Steelers embarrassed themselves against the Ravens in the playoffs, a scene that's become much too familiar in the last decade.
So now, as the 2025 offseason has begun, the Steeles still have not learned any lessons. They let Justin Fields sign with the Jets and have not given Russell Wilson a new deal. Instead, they bring back Mason Rudolph all the while, which by itself might not be a bad move. However, they seem to have gone all in to sign Aaron Rodgers.
Please, enough with the Aaron Rodgers fascination
If the Steelers had any hopes of improving upon the 2024 season, those have quickly evaporated. The only move they have made so far that has any potential to pay dividends was the blockbuster trade for wide receiver DK Metcalf. However, with George Pickens off in La La Land somewhere, their passing game may still not improve much. Yet, somehow, many fans believe that signing Aaron Rodgers is the answer to all their problems.
If the Steelers sign Rodgers for the 2025 season, you can expect a train wreck. It would be hard to imagine that he would even play eight or nine games at best with what they would have to pay him. Even then, Rodgers is not the quarterback he was before he left Green Bay.
If people thought Russell Wilson's career was washed up when they signed him, they now think the answer is to sign Rodgers. As they say, insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result.
What should the Pittsburgh Steelers do?
As counterintuitive as it sounds, the Steelers' best move is to give up chasing a quarterback. It's the one thing Tomlin could do to emulate Bill Cowher and perhaps become a contender again. When Bill Cowher took over as head coach, he never had a top-notch quarterback and never chased one either until Ben Roethlisberger finally fell to him in the draft. However, Bill Cowher understood that you could contend with an average quarterback in the playoffs if you had enough pieces around him.
Cowher started with Neil O'Donnell, who was far from a great quarterback. However, Bill Cowher realized that to win in football without a great quarterback, you must win offensively and defensively in the trenches. He had guys Dermontti Dawson, Alan Faneca, Justin Strzelcyck, Leon Searcy, John Jackson, Brendan Stai, Marvel Smith, Jeff Hartings, Max Starks, and Kendall Simmons on the offensive line.
Win that battle, and then you can run the ball. Look at the running backs he had: Barry Foster and Bam Morris. Then, eventually, he found a bus. He'd punish the opposition with big, powerful, bruising running backs, which opened up the passing, allowing O'Donnell, Kordell Stewart, and Tommy Maddox to look better than they were while passing to receivers like Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes, and even Troy Edwards, to name a few.
Defensively, the Steelers shut down opposing passers with defensive backs Rod Woodson, Carnell Lake, Darren Perry, and Ike Taylor because he had the likes of Ray Seals, Brentson Buckner, Kevin Greene, Aaron Smith, and Kimo von Oelhoffen in the trenches.
With that formula, he at least made it to Superbowl XXX despite losing and still won playoff games along the way until making it to Superbowl XL. Does Tomlin do this? He prefers to build from the top down with mediocre talent instead of the bottom up with men of steel like his two predecessors did, and the Steelers consistently lose in the trenches. So, in the end, the Steelers will end up with Aaron Rodgers and nothing to show for it.
In that light, the Steelers are morphing into Cleveland, believing the next shiny quarterback will always be their savior. How has that worked out for them? Deshaun Watson really revitalized that franchise!
Honestly, if Tomlin emulated Bill Cowher, he could probably have some success with Mason Rudolph. However, the Steelers will just go down a rabbit hole chasing Aaron Rodgers.
