While the Baltimore Ravens wrap up their free-agency efforts, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still sitting in quarterback limbo—waiting for Aaron Rodgers to make a decision he probably isn’t in any rush to make. While the rest of the league is along, the Steelers are holding their breath for a 41-year-old quarterback who hasn’t committed to actually playing football.
They’ve already traded for and extended DK Metcalf. They’ve signed Mason Rudolph. They’ve set a soft deadline for Rodgers to give them an answer by April 21. And now they’re just… hoping. Hoping Rodgers picks them. Hoping this doesn’t drag into training camp. Hoping Mike Tomlin still has control of a locker room that looks more lost by the day.
More laughs at Pittsburgh's expense:
- It took Steelers one press conference to instantly regret adding ex-Ravens LB
- Aaron Rodgers still isn’t a Steeler… now neither is Russell Wilson
- Najee Harris just put even more pressure on Mike Tomlin after torching him
And right on cue, Cam Heyward’s already shaky comments on the situation just did a full 180.
Mike Tomlin definitely didn’t tell Heyward to say that...
Let’s rewind. It was just over a week ago when Heyward made headlines on the Not Just Football podcast by brushing off the Rodgers speculation entirely. His recruiting pitch?
“I ain’t doing that darkness retreat. I don’t need any of that crap. Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don’t. It’s simple. That’s the pitch.”
But this week, Heyward showed up on Good Morning Football with a much different tone. Suddenly, it was all one big misunderstanding.
“Yes, it was misconstrued. From my point of view, I was asked the question of, ‘Would you go to the lengths of going to a darkness retreat to recruit Aaron Rodgers?’ I said, ‘I’m not doing that.’ The pitch is: If you wanna be a Steeler, be a Steeler. It wasn’t meant that I don’t like Rodgers or I’m against it. I think when I look at our team right now, it would be really cool to have a guy like Aaron Rodgers, but I can’t be the guy who gets it over the finish line. I think he’s got to make those decisions for himself.”
Right. Totally organic. Surely no one asked him to clean that up. Off topic, but I wonder when he and Rodgers go on that darkness retreat he wasn't doing.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the Steelers are trying to make Rodgers feel welcome. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that Tomlin is suddenly being framed as the guy who “needs” Rodgers to stay in contention. And maybe it’s just a coincidence that Heyward suddenly realized his previous comments didn’t fit the company line.
Or maybe Tomlin’s feeling the heat, and now everyone’s playing damage control.
Rodgers still might retire. The New York Giants already passed. The Minnesota Vikings aren’t interested. The longer this drags out, the more it feels like Pittsburgh is the fallback. Which makes Heyward’s new tune even more transparent. He didn’t flip because he had a change of heart. He flipped because the Steelers have run out of options, and somebody had to walk the PR stuff back.
Rodgers might still end up in Pittsburgh. But if he does, it won’t be because the locker room rallied to bring him in. It’ll be because there was nowhere else left to go and Pitt had no other options.