Why Aaron Rodgers' one-and-done plan is great news for the Steelers

By disclosing that helium would likely retire pursuing the 2025 play during a Tuesday quality connected "The Pat McAfee Show," Aaron Rodgers gave the Pittsburgh Steelers 2 gifts: clarity and time.

Each are luxuries the Steelers lacked the past 2 times they were led by an aging, Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

"I played 20 fricking years. It's been a agelong run. I've enjoyed it, and nary amended spot to decorativeness than successful 1 of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL with Mike Tomlin and a large radical of enactment and large guys successful the metropolis that expects you to win," Rodgers said.

With Rodgers' intentions stated earlier the play adjacent starts, the Steelers person each accidental to marque a strategical program to unafraid the adjacent franchise quarterback, 1 that's eluded them since Ben Roethlisberger retired successful 2021.

Not lone bash the Steelers person much than a twelvemonth to proceed their homework connected a 2026 backmost people that could see Clemson's Cade Klubnik, LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State's Drew Allar and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers, but they're besides well-positioned to determination up the draught committee with a fistful of compensatory picks from escaped cause departures. Those factors could pb to the Steelers selecting their adjacent franchise backmost successful beforehand of a hometown assemblage erstwhile Pittsburgh hosts the 2026 NFL draught successful April.

They could besides spell different route. Top-tier quarterbacks don't often deed escaped agency, and 2026 isn't an exception. Former first-round prime Daniel Jones, who signed a one-year woody successful Indianapolis, is the champion disposable escaped cause of the 2026 people truthful far. Other quarterbacks, though, could travel disposable successful releases oregon trades. Anthony Richardson Sr., Indianapolis' different backmost and their erstwhile first-round pick, is competing with Jones for the starting job. Whoever comes successful 2nd could beryllium available.

Trading for a starting backmost is rarer these days and expensive, but not impossible. Earlier this offseason, Seattle pulled disconnected a astonishment commercialized that sent starter Geno Smith to Las Vegas. The Steelers could archetypal look astatine erstwhile first-round picks who haven't played up to their expected potential. Arizona's Kyler Murray volition person 2 years and a nine enactment connected his existent declaration aft the 2025 season. His headdress hits are important -- $53.2 cardinal and $43.5 cardinal -- but they could beryllium massaged and restructured. Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence, who has 1 Pro Bowl berth since being drafted archetypal wide successful 2021, signed a five-year, $275 cardinal declaration anterior to the 2024 season, but helium could beryllium worthy an inquiry.

That's the perk of signing Rodgers -- and of him announcing his intentions anterior to the play -- the Steelers don't person to scramble and tin instrumentality the clip to deliberation strategically.

Pittsburgh didn't person the aforesaid benignant of luxury successful their modulation from Roethlisberger.

Two years removed from his season-ending elbow wounded and resulting surgery, Roethlisberger agreed to a new, one-year declaration anterior to the 2021 play that reduced his wage and lowered his headdress deed by much than $15 million. In opting to restructure the last twelvemonth of his woody alternatively than widen him beyond 2021, the Steelers seemingly signaled that the 2021 play would beryllium Roethlisberger's last. But the backmost didn't authorities that intelligibly until January 2022.

Before that, though, helium flirted with status a fistful of times, including aft a 2016 AFC Championship nonaccomplishment to the New England Patriots.

"I'm going to instrumentality this offseason to evaluate, to see each options," Roethlisberger, past 34, said successful January 2017.

Coach Mike Tomlin said helium took the status information "seriously" astatine the clip and that the squad would "plan accordingly."

Roethlisberger, instead, continued to play and signed an hold successful 2019. In the 2 years aft archetypal contemplating retirement, helium threw for 4,251 yards with 28 touchdowns to 14 interceptions with a 12-3 grounds successful 2017 and led the league successful passing (5,129 yards), walk attempts (452) and completions (675) and yards per crippled (320.6).

He ne'er won different playoff crippled aft the 2016 divisional triumph against Kansas City, and the Steelers haven't won a playoff crippled since his retirement.

As an aging Roethlisberger waffled and past resolved to return, the Steelers drafted 2 quarterbacks successful his last 5 seasons: Josh Dobbs with a 2017 fourth-round prime and Mason Rudolph successful the 3rd circular a twelvemonth later. Roethlisberger, who told the squad helium intended to instrumentality for the 2018 play anterior to the draft, was speedy to dependable his vexation implicit the Rudolph selection.

"I was amazed erstwhile they took a backmost due to the fact that I thought that possibly successful the 3rd round, you cognize you tin get immoderate truly bully shot players that tin assistance this squad now," Roethlisberger said successful a vigor interrogation successful 2018. "Nothing against Mason. ... I conscionable don't cognize however backing up oregon being a 3rd [string] -- well, who knows wherever he's going to autumn connected the extent illustration -- helps america triumph now."

The Steelers didn't draught a backmost with immoderate of their 24 picks implicit the adjacent 3 drafts until selecting Kenny Pickett with the No. 21 wide prime successful 2022, months aft Roethlisberger officially retired. Pickett, the archetypal backmost taken disconnected the committee successful a anemic class, struggled successful 2 seasons and was yet traded to the Philadelphia Eagles anterior to the 2024 season.

More recently, their 2024 experimentation with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields created uncertainty astatine the presumption and made charting a semipermanent program difficult. Wilson's two-year tenure successful Denver ended with a release, and helium signed a one-year, vet-minimum woody successful Pittsburgh successful an effort to jumpstart his career. Shortly aft that, the Steelers acquired Fields successful a commercialized with Chicago connected an expiring rookie deal. The Steelers thought they had their backmost of the aboriginal successful the building. Either Wilson, who said helium felt similar helium recovered the fountain of younker upon signing successful Pittsburgh, would play person to his Super Bowl-winning form, oregon Fields would look arsenic the future.

Neither happened.

Wilson, sidelined aboriginal connected by a calf injury, started disconnected hot, but helium and the squad fell isolated with an 0-5 losing streak to extremity the season. Fields went 4-2 successful six starts but was replaced erstwhile Wilson was healthy. The team's apical priority, wide manager Omar Khan said anterior to escaped agency, was signing either Wilson oregon Fields. But according to league sources, the squad didn't actively prosecute signing Wilson, making their apical precedence Fields.

Fields, though, opted to motion a two-year, $40 cardinal woody with the Jets. Beyond apical wide prime Cam Ward, the 2025 backmost draught people was unheralded, and the marketplace of escaped cause and tradeable quarterbacks was comparatively desolate.

Once again, the Steelers were successful the lurch arsenic a byproduct of a concern they created. Rodgers, consenting to play astatine a bargain terms and disposable without spending captious draught capital, was the team's champion option. And by expressing his intent to discontinue earlier helium adjacent steps connected the tract for grooming camp, helium became adjacent much invaluable -- adjacent if the play ends without a playoff triumph oregon snaps Tomlin's streak of non-losing seasons -- due to the fact that helium allows them to thoughtfully hole for the future.