Why Won't Aaron Rodgers Commit to the Steelers Now?

Albert, give us one, something that's going to linger, linger over our heads like my excitement of March Madness, which is now 36 rising.

We're getting closer to noon.

It's rising.

Um, I would say I, I think the obvious one, I'll just take this one off the board is Aaron Rodgers, and, and, and I, I, it's funny because I, I, I assume there's a good level of communication between him and the Steelers.

I don't know that for a fact, but Um, I think it's at least interesting that he keeps saying I'm not gonna drag this out, and then every year this is where we are, you know, so dragging it out.

I mean, last year, I think was it when was it that he made his decision was draft week, wasn't, is that right?

Uh, yes, I have to look that up.

Hold on.

Is that right?

OK, cause I, I think it was like, well, I'm not gonna, you know, I'm not gonna make this, I'm not gonna, you know, carry this out over the course of the offseason, all that different stuff.

No, they didn't sign until June 6th.

That was insane.

All right, so it's June 6th.

So over under June 6th, we have a decision.

I think.

Can you imagine though, he, he, he, here's, here's another thing, OK?

I'm just gonna say this.

Yesterday, the Eagles, uh, traded for Andy Dalton, OK, and that made who in your mind expendable because of that.

Tanner McKee.

Tanner McKee, high upside, former late 6th, 7th round pick out of Stanford, um, has played really well in certain situations.

Yeah, and they've been reluctant to trade him, and they've been reluctant to trade him, but now they have Andy Dalton, probably less reluctant to trade him.

If you're Mike McCarthy, like, I mean, you have Will Howard, who I'm sure you're much higher on than everybody else in the world, Albert, just kidding.

Um, but like, you have Will Howard, you have Mason Rudolph, like, Go get Tanner McKee.

And say, all right, Aaron, like I'm not, you know, I, I, I'll give you until the end of the week.

Like you can be here with Tanner and then Tanner is gonna be the quarterback when you're gone, or is at least gonna be the bridge to the quarterback when you're gone.

Or uh like I'm not waiting because he's like he's sort of the one who would make sense either way, right?

He'd be a great, you're not gonna like bring in Kirk Cousins.

Kirk Cousins isn't gonna go there unless he knows and Aaron sit around is exactly, you know what I mean?

So like he's the one where you could say he would make sense.

As a.

You know, as a, as, as, as sort of a developmental guy that you have behind a start for a year, or you could start him, right?

Like he's probably the one guy out there that would fit into that category where, uh, where I, like I, I think it's like Kirk Cousins, like for obvious reasons, especially like with, given his own experience, isn't gonna want to do that.

So, um, I still think Aaron Rodgers is gonna play this year again.

That is, that is just an opinion, but I look at the way that they've built.

I look at like, I, I look at like how much he enjoyed playing last year, which I think is a factor in all of this, and I think he really enjoyed being around his teammates last year and really enjoyed football, which is what he was looking for when, you know, at the end of his time with the Jets, and obviously that didn't work out.

I also look at like the way they've built, and I think we talked about this on Tuesday, right?

But, I mean, they go and get Michael Pittman, who's 29, gonna be 30, Jamel Dean, 29, gonna be 30, um, you know, they, Rico Dowdells going into his 7th year, I think, as a running back, which is old for a running back.

You just add all this stuff up and it's like, It feels like they're building for Aaron Rodgers, you know, and it feels like they're trying to entice Aaron Rodgers to play quarterback for them, um, and I'm not saying that Mike McCarthy hire happened because, because I know it didn't, but it's still, it's there, you know, so it just feels like they're setting up this scenario.

To try to do again, what they were trying to do last year, which was like, let's take it, let's get another run at this with this core that's been good over the last 6 or 7 or 8 years, but hasn't been quite good enough.

The June 6th, uh, deadline is theoretical deadline for the purposes of this is interesting, Albert, because it, it, it really, I mean, now we're after the draft.

Now we're after the bulk of the offseason program and I think the thing that has, I, I've just had a difficulty grappling with, with Rodgers over time, and I know that McCarthy was pretty lax with him in Green Bay, like Aaron used to be able to go home, he didn't really have a lot of off-season responsibilities and stuff, is that it just continually flies in the face of the idea of what you'd expect for someone at the position.

And then it always does seem to manifest itself at some point during the year when there's a communication breakdown with the wide receiver.

And I, and I know that there's communication breakdowns with every quarterback and every wide receiver.

But at some point, like if you're Rodgers, and this is like the capstone of your career, wouldn't you want to just be like all in, and I guess like, you're deciding if you want to be all in, which is fair, but like, isn't the fact that you're taking so long to decide whether or not you're all in an indication of how all in you may or may not be.

I, I, I don't know the answer to that.

Like I know how we are, right?

Where, so you're saying it's like, Uh, what's the, what's the analogy?

It's like that either you are or you aren't.

I can't remember the, you can't, you can't be half pregnant, right?

Like you are, that's what it is, pregnant, yeah, you can't, you can't, you can't be like, like if you're all in, you are, right?

Yeah, like, here's a perfect example, right?

Like you and I, but maybe he is, and he doesn't wanna, like I think last year part of it was he had all this other stuff he wanted to do, and it was like when I show up.

I'm gonna be all in, right?

Like when I show up, but for me to do that, I got a bunch of other things I want to do first.

Could it be that?

Cool, then tell them that, you know, like then.

Lay it out there, because, and I bought into last year that there was a conspiracy that Rodgers was waiting until after the schedule so that the Steelers didn't get banged like the Jets did with like 91 primetime games.

I, I honestly like the, I don't think Rodgers is a draw like that anymore.

He's just not, right?

I mean, like we saw this.

Pittsburgh is not an aesthetically pleasing style of play to witness, and, and I don't think that the NFL needs Rodgers the same way.

than maybe it did 2 or 3 years ago.

They're in a really good spot from that perspective.

All of a sudden, the Broncos are a draw, the Patriots are a draw, the Seahawks are a draw, and it's not like Lamar or Mahomes or Burrow or Allen are any less than they were before.

You're just adding more on top of it.

The 49ers are still a draw, the Eagles are still a draw.

Jacksonville's kind of interesting.

Houston's defense makes them entertaining to watch.

So, I, I don't think that The NFL needs to, to put Rodgers and the Steelers on the marquee, the same way they needed to put Rodgers and the Jets in the marquee two years ago.

Here's a fun game I want to play with you real quick, OK?

Tell me to stop.

When I come up with a team that is less fun to watch than the Pittsburgh Steelers, OK?

OK, so I'm going to list you teams, and then when I come to a team, and, and I kinda, I, I'm, I'm, I'm using the power rankings here because I think sometimes most fun to watch correlates , but I'm gonna, I'm gonna play with it a little bit, OK?

And I want you to tell me to stop when you would say, I'd rather watch the Pittsburgh Steelers regardless of opponent than this team, OK?

Ready?

Seahawks.

Rams.

Broncos.

Bills Forty-Niners.

Ravens Patriots.

Texans.

Bears Eagles.

Chargers Jaguars.

Chiefs, Albert.

I might stop a Jaguars Chiefs.

No, I'd rather watch the Chiefs.

Jaguars, I, but I like the Jaguars.

Keep going , keep going.

I'm, I'm, I'm gonna, I, I think the Jaguars are more interesting definitively, OK.

Packers, Lions.

Uh, cowboys?

All right, I think now, I think I , no, the Cowboys probably are OK, Colts.

OK, I think Panthers?

I think this is where they are.

We're now in that area, yeah, right.

Oh, wait, wait, we forgot about the Bengals.

The, no, I, I think the Bengals are more interesting, don't you?

I think the Bengals are more interesting.

I mean, would you rather watch Albert, and this is another team that gets bloated into primetime anyway, so it doesn't matter, but like, would you rather watch the Giants next year, opponent averse than the, than the Steelers in any, in any given game?

I would, yeah, I would.

Would you rather watch the Commanders in any game because they're gonna be interesting because Jaden Daniels is back.

I agree.

Would you rather watch the Vikings with Kyler Murray than the Steelers in any given game?

That's what I'm saying when I say like the league has the league's in a good spot when it comes to that, you know what I mean, because there, there are a, I'd say like going in 26, there are a lot of interesting teams.

Yeah, so I'm just saying like if that's the reason, Aaron, like don't worry about it.

Like I think you're good, uh, you know, the Rodgers storyline, uh, has, has, has passed, uh, and, and that has nothing to do with me and Connor not wanting to have to be like on call for some sort of Aaron Rodgers thing happening the first week, nothing at all.

That's only, that's only most of it.