Steelers One-Year Deal With Aaron Rodgers Will Soon Give Clues Whether He's The Missing Piece Or A Mistake

The two sides have gone to their respective corners and are preparing to come out swinging. No, not Trump and Musk, but rather the people who believe the Pittsburgh Steelers have added a missing piece in their quest for an extended playoff run by acquiring Aaron Rodgers, and the people who think the team remains in quarterback purgatory.

And old quarterback purgatory at that.

Rodgers Agrees To One-Year Deal

Even as you read this, the reaction to Rodgers agreeing to a one-year deal with the Steelers Thursday evening is the stuff of very unscientific online surveys.

Will Rodgers help the Steelers go on an extended playoff run?

Will Rodgers be another major disappointment and mistake by the Steelers?

So a crowning achievement or dumpster fire. No in-between allowed.

Former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, who recently has been a voice of reason in America, said on his social media platform he believes Rodgers "is going to ball in Pittsburgh."

Good or bad, we're about to get a clue in the coming weeks how things are more likely to go based on what we see and hear out of the Steelers' building.

Consider:

Next week, when the Steelers report to their minicamp, we'll get a clue whether Rodgers stayed in solid shape the past four months between the time the New York Jets said they were going to release him, and he finally committed to playing for Pittsburgh.

Is Aaron Rodgers Ready To Work?

We only know of one throwing session Rodgers had with Steelers receiver DK Metcalf in March. But we'll soon know if there were others. We'll know if Rodgers reports 100 percent healthy. We'll know if he's kept his arm ready for work or needs a ramp-up period.

And we'll know that by how much Rodgers is able to do during minicamp. Yes, he's going to report, but will he be working or watching? 

That will be the first clue telling us whether Rodgers has been privately preparing for the coming season or not. It'll also give a clue whether he got a peak at the Pittsburgh playbook before he actually agreed to his deal.

There will be another vital sign that will offer clues about what to expect from Rodgers during the 2025 season.

Rodgers Will Focus On Vacation Or Vocation

The Steelers are scheduled to end their minicamp next Thursday and then players are off until July 23 when they are expected to report to training camp.

So will Rodgers disappear for six weeks until he has to report? Or will the guy who has had the entirety of the offseason program off, stick around the Steelers facility? Work to catch up? Get acclimated in town?

Will he, in other words, give off vibes of being all in on being as good as he can in Pittsburgh?

Or will he give off vibes of being a mercenary that shows up only when it is absolutely required?

The Steelers are obviously betting on the former. They need the former.

This is a team that ended last year in depressing fashion, losing its final four regular-season games and then getting soundly beaten by the Baltimore Ravens in the wild card round of the playoffs. So five consecutive losses to finish the season. 

CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 22: Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan looks on prior to a game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 22, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

Steelers Take Unorthodox Approach

"The way we ended was unacceptable," general manager Omar Khan said at the NFL combine. "We know we have to be better, and people expect better. We expect better, and that can't happen again."

Any fan that understands the Steelers' history knows the Steelers have been solid but not exactly outstanding. They've made the playoffs five times since 2017.

And they've been one-and-done losers in each of those postseason tournaments. The Steelers are currently tied with the Miami Dolphins for the longest playoff losing streak at six in a row.

And to solve that, they're counting on a quarterback who turns 42-years-old in December.

It's not exactly what rebuilding or retooling is supposed to look like. The last time Pittsburgh won a playoff game in the 2016 season, Ben Roethlisberger was 34-years-old. Last year's starting quarterback, Russell Wilson, was 36-years-old.

And now they're counting on a 42-year-old to end a playoff drought. So, no wonder some fans and pundits are arguing whether this Rodgers move will lift the Steelers or extend their postseason misery.