If Baltimore Ravens fans ever wondered what it looks like when a franchise slowly spirals into chaos while pretending everything is fine, just peek over at the Pittsburgh Steelers right now.
Their quarterback situation has been a complete circus since Ben Roethlisberger hung it up, and somehow, they’ve managed to make it even funnier by rolling out the red carpet for Aaron Rodgers — a 41-year-old quarterback who may or may not be interested in playing football.
Meanwhile, Najee Harris — freshly signed with the Los Angeles Chargers — just put Mike Tomlin and the entire Steelers organization on blast by saying the offense had “no identity” and no one to learn from. That’s not exactly a glowing review for a team trying to woo a veteran quarterback. Pittsburgh’s “plan” post-Roethlisberger has been unclear at best, and now they’re hoping a future Hall of Famer walks in and magically fixes it all.
Good luck to the Steelers and their soft deadline for Aaron Rodgers
According to Nick Farabaugh of Penn Live, the Steelers have now given Rodgers a “soft deadline” of April 21 to make up his mind. That’s the date voluntary workouts begin, and in theory, that’s when a team would want their new quarterback to show up and start installing a system.
Especially when that quarterback is Rodgers. As Farabaugh pointed out:
"When a team signs someone like Rodgers, they will naturally inherit some things Rodgers likes, including his hand signals and concepts that he loves. All of that installation begins as early as those voluntary workouts in April.”
Makes sense on paper. But Rodgers is out here living his best life, basking in the attention and coverage he’s getting, while the Steelers sit in quarterback limbo. The soft deadline feels like an attempt to avoid what happened with the New York Jets last year, when Rodgers skipped OTAs entirely.
The other angle? That April 21 date sits just days before the NFL Draft. Which means the Steelers are trying to avoid walking into the draft blind, unsure if they need to go full panic mode and reach for a quarterback like Jaxson Dart or Tyler Shough in Round 1.
Honestly, setting a deadline might just backfire. Rodgers doesn’t operate on anyone’s timeline but his own. If he wants to wait until May, July, or whenever, he’ll take it.
Let’s not forget, Cam Heyward already threw shade at the whole situation, basically telling Rodgers to either sign or keep it moving. “I ain’t doing that darkness retreat,” Heyward said. “I don’t need any of that crap.” So the locker room is already over it — and Rodgers hasn’t even signed yet.
If Rodgers doesn’t end up in Pittsburgh? Well, they traded for and extended DK Metcalf without a quarterback plan. Their fallback options are Mason Rudolph, re-signing Russell Wilson, or gambling on a rookie at No. 21.
It’s just… beautiful. Good luck putting a soft deadline out there on Aaron Rodgers. Can’t wait to see how that plays out. The Steelers are really showing their impatience by hitting ultimatum mode with this rumored deadline.