The Pittsburgh Steelers have been stuck in purgatory at the quarterback position for the last five seasons. The organization didn't truly have a great succession plan for after Ben Roethlisberger retired at the end of the 2021 season, and the franchise has been paying the price for that as of late. The front office has made every sort of acquisition at the quarterback position. Veterans have been brought in through free agency, Justin Fields was acquired via trade, a quarterback was taken in the first round of the NFL Draft, but nothing has truly stuck. Aaron Rodgers is currently gearing up to line up under center for the second season in a row.
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Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) during 2025 training camp in Latrobe, PA.
Rodgers is providing some continuity at the quarterback position for the Steelers. This is the first time the Steelers will have the same opening day starter under center since it was Roethlisberger back in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Rodgers might not be the player he once was, but he was the best option for the Steelers and he played better in 2025 than a lot of people want to give him credit for.
Signing Rodgers for the 2025 season was a bit of a process. The quarterback didn't want to make a decision immediately, and he seemed to still be deciding between the Steelers and retiring. He made a few media appearances, visited Pittsburgh, went to UCLA and threw with DK Metcalf, but he still did not put pen to paper for quite some time. This led to the quarterback apologizing in the meeting room once he did sign, which Cam Heyward stated while talking to the four-time league MVP on the latest episode of Not Just Football.
"Well, first team meeting, you apologized," Heyward said. "We were all kind of thrown off by it because like, you don't have to apologize."
The quarterback apologized to the team for being a distraction in the media throughout the process of making his decision. There is no denying that he was a distraction. He delayed the decision for quite some time even though it seemed obvious that he would eventually sign. He wound up signing a one-year deal right before the start of mandatory minicamp.
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Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) during 2025 training camp in Latrobe, PA.
While Rodgers was making his decision during the 2025 offseason, he had some eventual teammates take a shot or two at him. Safety DeShon Elliott wound up calling him an old man on social media, and Heyward even made a statement on his podcast about how someone can either want to be a Steeler or not. He was clearly fed up with the charade at the time. Rodgers explained why he apologized to the team during his first meeting in Pittsburgh.
"Yeah, I mean, I'm glad that's what you got out of it," Rodgers said. "My main point I was trying to make was just to give me a clean slate."
Rodgers came into Pittsburgh after a rollercoaster of an offseason, and he just wanted a clean slate with his teammates. He didn't want anyone to have any sort of preconceived notions about him as a person or as a teammate, and since then all players have spoken extremely highly of the veteran quarterback. Players in Pittsburgh have had nothing but good things to say about Rodgers.
Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Just Did The Same Thing Again
Not that it matters all that much, but Rodgers just went ahead and did the exact same thing that he apologized for when he first arrived in Pittsburgh. He spent nearly the whole 2026 offseason doing the same thing: deciding whether or not he was going to continue playing football. He had a media appearance or two, but the point is, he did the same exact thing that he had already apologized for. He signed a bit earlier in the NFL calendar this time around as he inked another one-year deal with the franchise, but things have been very cyclical with him over the last two years.
What do you think about Rodgers apologizing to the team? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!
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