Whereas Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is reportedly “excited” to probably work with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Rodgers hadn’t but put pen to paper on a contract with the AFC North membership as of Thursday morning.
Throughout a Wednesday stay stream shared on the Bleacher Report YouTube channel, NFL insider James Palmer touched upon one concern some inside the Steelers have about including Rodgers to the roster this spring.
“What’s fascinating, and speaking to folks in [the Steelers’ building], is how is that this gonna go down if [Rodgers] does get there?” Palmer mentioned, per Troy Montgomery of Steelers Depot. “Is that this gonna be Aaron’s offense? Is that this gonna be Arthur Smith’s offense? Each of them are very agency and really hard-headed. I do not suppose Arthur’s gonna again all the way down to him by any stretch, and possibly that is what Aaron wants.”
Whereas the New York Jets employed Rodgers favourite Nathaniel Hackett as their offensive coordinator earlier than they acquired the long run Corridor of Famer from the Inexperienced Bay Packers within the spring of 2023, there isn’t any indication the Steelers will both deliver Hackett in or dismiss Smith. For a mailbag revealed on Thursday, Mike DeFabo of The Athletic urged Rodgers is not an excellent match for Smith’s scheme.
“Rodgers tried the second-most passes within the league in 2024 and needs to run a exact offense,” DeFabo defined. “The Steelers would pair him with an offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, who referred to as the fourth-most runs within the league in 2024 and a receiving corps higher recognized for its capacity to catch deep balls than to run detailed routes.”
With that mentioned, Rodgers is a 41-year-old signal-caller who has dealt with a plethora of accidents for the reason that begin of the 2022 season. Maybe enjoying in Smith’s offense is what Rodgers must efficiently prolong his profession for even one marketing campaign.
“Are you gonna have Aaron’s verbiage and everyone else has to be taught what he does? Or are you gonna have Aaron are available and be taught what everyone else already is aware of, and you’ve got one participant be taught the brand new verbiage?” Palmer added throughout the section. “There are folks in that constructing which are asking that query, which are curious how that is gonna go down.”
The truth that the Steelers at present are on observe to begin longtime backup Mason Rudolph in Week 1 might give Rodgers a little bit of leverage in negotiations with the group. Then once more, it is attainable he’ll spend the remainder of spring ready to listen to from the Minnesota Vikings after Vikings basic supervisor Kwesi Adofo-Mensah revealed on Wednesday that he hasn’t fully slammed the door shut on reaching out to Rodgers earlier than coaching camp practices get underway.
