The Pittsburgh Steelers have been at the epicenter of the headlines many times during the 2026 NFL offseason. On a recent episode of Deebo and Joe, former linebacker James Harrison floated the idea of Cincinnati Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow coming to Pittsburgh. This has now added a new wrinkle to an already hectic offseason in the Steel City as the organization is yet again awaiting a decision from Aaron Rodgers.
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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow makes a gesture to the crowd as he walks off the field during a professional football game away from home.
Following Harrison's comments, former Bengals cornerback Adam Pacman Jones blasted the idea on a recent episode of Politely Raw with Pacman Jones. The comments from Jones echo exactly what the show is named. While this would be an incredible shift if it were to happen, the idea definitely comes across as far-fetched.
Jones absolutely felt so with his serious response back to Harrison as he went off. It is no surprise Jones is disputing the idea, as he used to up against Pittsburgh twice each year during his NFL career.
"This sh*t has gotta stop and it's gotta stop now," Jones said. "And I called James and I told him 'Hey, stop tampering with our f****** players.'"
The Steelers are again allowing the Rodgers saga to drag out, similar to what they enabled in the 2025 offseason. The NFL Draft is rapidly approaching and the team still is awaiting a final answer from Rodgers as to what he will be doing in 2026. Should there be any sort of merit to Harrison's comments made, Burrow would be an excellent replacement for Rodgers. Pittsburgh is also still left with the Will Howard conundrum.
While new Head Coach Mike McCarthy did mention that he likes what he sees in Howard, every move the franchise has made in recent years suggests that it is not ready to try to hand the keys over to a younger guy at quarterback and see if he develops into the franchise guy. Another variable in the Rodgers situation is that he played under McCarthy for many years in the past during their NFL careers so it is strongly believed that he will be back.
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Steelers Quarterback Will Howard during a game in college as the Quarterback at Ohio State University
It is not a surprise that Jones snapped back at these comments made by Harrison given the past hostility from being AFC North rivals. Now, that rivalry appears to have extended off the field as Jones is strongly against seeing his former team's star quarterback move over to a division rival.
Steelers Bringing Burrow To Steel City Would Isn't Going To Be Happening
Former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger joined Harrison's podcast and was present when these comments were made about Burrow. Roethlisberger mentioned that the idea of Burrow coming over to Pittsburgh is a pipe dream. While Roethlisberger's comments were much more mild than Jones', the consensus is that the move will not be happening. Regardless, the Bengals have given Burrow every reason to want out of Cincinnati.
Burrow has led the Bengals to a Super Bowl, when they fell to the Los Angeles Rams by a final score of 23-20 in 2022. However, Cincinnati has failed Burrow in a couple of ways during his time there. Burrow has either had to deal with a bad offensive line that had him looking over his shoulder constantly and worrying about pressure as well as being hurt or a bad defense that has caused more pressure on him to perform at an elite level.
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Pittsburgh Steelers' TJ Watt against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024.
Burrow will most likely end up staying in Cincinnati and not be a Steeler when this offseason concludes. As Roethlisberger eluded to, Burrow coming to the Black and Gold would be a pipe dream, although a fun idea to dream about. However, the comments by Harrison definitely got some attention and Jones is one of the more noteworthy people so far to comment on this pipe dream of an idea.
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