Aaron Rodgers is down to two options – he can either sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers or retire. That doesn't leave Rodgers with much leverage in contract negotiations, but the Steelers are also desperate for a starting signal-caller. So far this offseason, the Steelers have lost Justin Fields and Russell Wilson to the New York Jets and New York Giants respectively.
Pittsburgh QB depth chart is barren, with Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson leading the way. The Steelers will almost certainly take a quarterback in the NFL Draft as well, but the point remains that as of this writing, Mike Tomlin has no real plan at the position should Rodgers hang up his cleats. That is a problem, and a stressful one at that for a head coach with 18 straight winning seasons.
Mike Tomlin and the Steelers need an answer from Aaron Rodgers
Tomlin and Rodgers have long respected one another. Rodgers believes Tomlin is one of the best coaches in football and creates an ideal culture and community for his team in Pittsburgh. Rodgers defeated Tomlin in his only Super Bowl defeat.
"There's only one Mike Tomlin, fist and foremost, and you have to give Mike credit. He's got the special sauce," Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show. "He seems to understand how to motivate his guys every single year. For him to not have a losing season is absolutely ridiculous. ... I've always respected Mike from afar and I think he's done one hell of a job in Pittsburgh."
While the respect remains, the Steelers need Rodgers to make a decision.
Steelers running out of time to wait on Aaron Rodgers
The NFL Draft is just over a week away, and voluntary workouts are rapidly approaching. Pittsburgh would prefer to create an offense around Rodgers as early as possible. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter made it clear the stress is getting to the Steelers and Tomlin.
“They need to figure out who’s going to be playing quarterback. Ideally, you’d like to get an answer from Aaron Rodgers before the draft begins,” Schefter added. “Can you imagine what it would be like right now to be a coach on the Pittsburgh Steelers staff when you’re trying to basically get your offense ready for the start of your offseason program, and you don’t know whether that offense is going to include Aaron Rodgers or not?”
As Schefter noted, this is incredibly tough on the Pittsburgh coaching staff. On the one hand, the Steelers need to prepare with the quarterbacks currently in their system. However, at any given moment Rodgers could choose to join them, thus throwing their entire offseason program into chaos.