Mike Tomlin Was Furious With Steelers' Cam Heyward In The 2025 Offseason: "What The Fu*k Are You Doing"

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been playing musical chairs at the quarterback position ever since Ben Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 campaign. For the first time since that year, the franchise will have the same guy under center for back-to-back season openers. Aaron Rodgers is 42 years old and still has enough left in the tank for one more go-around in the Steel City. After rumors began swirling in 2025 about the four-time MVP signing with the organization, he would wait all the way until June to put pen to paper. Now, he is prepared for one final run.

There was plenty of discussion surrounding Rodgers' decision-making process. He was not around for Organized Team Activities (OTAs) and had no issue showing up a lot later in the offseason. He has always been very adamant about not liking team workouts in the months of May and June. Despite this, then-head coach Mike Tomlin was able to get the legendary signal-caller to come to town.

There wasn't a lack of drama leading up to the signing of the one-year deal, however. Specifically, the longest tenured Steelers player had some words of wisdom back in 2025 that made national headlines. Cam Heyward was vocal on an episode of his Not Just Football podcast about Rodgers either wanting to play in Pittsburgh or not desiring to do so. At first listen, it almost seemed like he was calling out the quarterback.

The two teammates got to revisit this ordeal on the most recent podcast episode of Not Just Football. The defensive lineman went into detail about what he initially meant by the comments, and that they were completely taken out of context at the time.

"All I'm saying is, there's no pitch to make you magically want to become a Pittsburgh Steeler," Heyward said.

While the duo laughed it off while speaking about it, Rodgers wanted to set the record straight that nothing that was said actually bothered him. It really made no impact on what would end up being his decision to sign with the Steelers.

"I totally agree with that. I didn't take any offense to it," Rodgers stated. "I just like giving you sh*t for it."

Tomlin, however, was not thrilled at the time. He had spent months connecting with Rodgers and trying to get him to play in Pittsburgh. After the headlines started flying around all over the internet, the former head coach made sure to call Heyward and figure out exactly what his goal was with his comments.

"Mike T. called me after and he was like, 'What the f*ck are you doing?' I'm like, 'I'm not even f*cking saying anything,'" Heyward explained.

That provided a little bit more context into how much Tomlin may or may not have paid attention to the media during his tenure as the leader of the locker room. Despite his strong relationship with Heyward, he was not pleased about something that could have been perceived as a call-out of Rodgers.

Now, the two are teammates once again, but Tomlin is not around. It's a great thing that both are professionals and any kind of animosity that may have existed is far gone. With that said, it appears as if the only individual internally who was upset about Heyward's words was Tomlin, and not Rodgers. It speaks volumes that Tomlin was already jumping to his soon-to-be quarterback's defense. It didn't matter that the veteran defender has been the glue of the locker room for years.

Steelers Are Hoping To Get Phenomenal Seasons From Both Veterans

Pittsburgh has a lot of key faces on both sides of the ball for 2026. There are a plethora of contributors who could determine if the team is able to win a playoff game or not. At the top of the list, however, are Heyward and Rodgers. Not only are they the most experienced out of the bunch, but both of them are still capable of playing top-notch football. Even though Tomlin is no longer around, the Steelers need the duo to be elite once again.

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