The Pittsburgh Steelers Keep Making the Same Mistake

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been synonymous with consistency and stability for the

greater part of two decades. While numerous other organizations in the NFL have

struggled to have a semblance of foundational success, cue the New York Jets,

Cleveland Browns or even the Dallas Cowboys, the Steelers have reached the playoffs

consistently and have maintained a 500 record during the time. Mike Tomlin and Bill

Cowher both won Super Bowls and the fanbase have never lacked support, considering

they are one of the most well-traveled fanbases in the NFL. All things considered, the

Pittsburgh Steelers are what many other fanbases would only dream of.

Or are they?

Another season and the Steelers find themselves in the exact same position as they have

been for the past few years. No closer to finding the next franchise quarterback since

Ben Roethlisberger retired and no closer to being truly relevant in the AFC. And now

once again, for the second season in a row, with Aaron Rodgers on their team.

For the greater part of Aaron Rodgers’ career, the conversation surrounding him has

been interesting to say the least. His on-field success has surely guaranteed him a spot

in the Hall of Fame but the controversy surrounding him off the field has almost soured

most NFL fans’ view of him. A betting Green Bay Packers fan would say winning just one

Super Bowl was really the result of the team dynamic and how Packers’ coach Mike

McCarthy and Rodgers’ relationship struggled over the years. A betting New York Jets

fan would say the two seasons, minus the one where Rodgers was injured, played like a

soap opera nobody wanted a part of. Whether or not, Rodgers contributed to the

lackluster output on the field, doesn’t really matter. The perception was that with him

being there, that in some way he contributed to the state of what the Jets were. The past

few years of Rodgers’ career has almost certainly clouded the Hall of Fame career he had

already cemented, in one way or another.

The Steelers have had a revolving door of quarterbacks since Roethlisberger

retired. Kenny Pickett. Mason Rudolph. Justin Fields. Russell Wilson. They even drafted

a quarterback in this year’s draft, Drew Allar, after drafting Will Howard in the 2025

draft. But still, have yet to find the quarterback that even mirrored half of

Roethlisberger’s success. Never quite bad enough to be at the top of the drafting order

and never quite enough assets to acquire a quarterback in free agency; the Steelers

always seem like the ones late to the party. Like their invitation was an afterthought.

Signing Aaron Rodgers for the upcoming season reads like a sign of desperation from

the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here we go…again.

The previous season with Rodgers at the helm ended the same way the previous seasons

before had. Playoff exit. Highly outplayed by the opponent. No closer to a Super Bowl

than the teams that didn’t even make the playoffs to begin with. So, why are the Steelers

here again? Replaying the same old movie with the same ending?

Lack of understanding?

Lack of perception?

Lack of something nobody can name?

It’s a conundrum.

Drafting Drew Allar was mildly acceptable, considering the circumstances. At least,

drafting a quarterback with some collegiate success had a mark of commend ability.

Waiting on pins and needles to see if Aaron Rodgers was going to play another

season…lacked any sign of culpability. And deciding to sign him to a 20 million dollar

plus contract implies that the Steelers think this season will be unlike the previous one.

All Pittsburgh Steelers fans groan.

It feels like the Steelers brass is living on a pipe dream. Reuniting Mike McCarthy and

Aaron Rodgers are a nice sentiment but is it worth it? Is it worth it to relive some things,

as if, other things didn’t happen at all?

Why do the Pittsburgh Steelers keep signing up for this version of themselves? A

franchise so storied with legacy and history has been relegated to the basement where

average teams are. Those are places where teams have mild success and are okay with it.

Not teams that have been written into NFL lore long before the book closes. How is that

what the Steelers want to be relegated to?

When the Detroit Lions traded Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams…it was a

gamble. Trading a guy, so beloved by the city and the organization, required some form

of resolve, often bereft of most sports teams. The trade worked out for the Rams because

they won a Super Bowl and whether the sports world wants to admit it or not, the trade

worked for the Lions as well. Jared Goff has been instrumental in pulling the Detroit

Lions out of the abyss of losing. Their relevance has only increased with Goff as their

quarterback and in the long run, for a sports city as proud as Detroit is, that counts for

something.

The Detroit Lions didn’t want to make that trade but…they did it. They turned the page

on what was and what had long surpassed its prime.

The Steelers refuse to turn that page.

Mike Tomlin made the choice to leave the Steelers, of his own accord. While there was

wild speculation that the two parties would depart…the Steelers may have elected not to

do it. So, Tomlin did. Hiring McCarthy was a reasonable move. His coaching pedigree

cannot be ignored and what happened at his previous spot has a lot to do with what the

Dallas Cowboys are and not what McCarthy isn’t. The departure of Tomlin and arrival of

McCarthy feels like a balanced transition which in large part, adds to the legend of how

stable the Steelers organization is.

But then, the Steelers allow themselves to be on the quarterback carousel again, no

closer to finding their next future quarterback than they were the previous season. One

season at a time.

Drastically misguided.

The last time we saw the Pittsburgh Steelers, they had zero offensive output against a

team that the week after barely had offensive output themselves, in the Houston Texans.

Numerous games before they entered the playoffs, their offensive output had decreased,

and the underwhelming effects of that had left the team rendered pretty much obsolete.

Yet here they are again. Pretty much in the same spot…hoping for different results. In a

division, that still holds Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. In an AFC, that still holds

Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Can the Steelers truly compete?

Pittsburgh Steeler fans can guess how this story will end.

Signing Rodgers for another year is just prolonging the thing that the Steelers don’t

want to acknowledge. Running this carousel of quarterbacks has not proven fruitful. Not

having a plan for when Ben Roethlisberger retired was ill gotten. Being okay with simply

just being in the playoffs every year has only tried to hide the fact that the Steelers refuse

to take a risk. Signing Rodgers is not a risk. It’s a choice. It’s a choice of thinking that

replaying the same thing will yield a different outcome. Mortgaging for one year for

Rodgers is not mortgaging on the future of the franchise.

Why did they sit around and wait for A-Rod to decide if he wanted to come back? Why is

a franchise of their stature waiting for anyone to decide if they wanted to play for them?

Why be a character in a never-ending soap opera of the latter years of Rodgers’ career?

At the end of Goodfellas, the main character goes into the witness protection program

and ends up somewhere where he claims he can’t even get a real plate of spaghetti. The

once lavish lifestyle he had had disappeared and now he was just nobody, as he

described.

That’s what the Pittsburgh Steelers are heading toward. A place where they don’t meet

the standard they so eloquently built. A place where the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t even

garner relevant conversation. A place where you can’t even get a decent Terrible towel.

It’s time to move on.

It’s time to do what the Detroit Lions did.

It’s time to take a risk.

It’s time to acknowledge that the next five years of the franchise matter more than just

the current one.

It’s time to recognize that sometimes doing the same old thing…ends up just being the

same old thing.

It’s time to move on. (It’s worth repeating)

Until the Pittsburgh Steelers realize that they’re a character in Aaron Rodgers’ story and

not their own. And while, Aaron Rodgers is not to blame for every season the Steelers

have failed to succeed…he is just another distraction for what the real problem is.

The Chicago Bulls have spent years trying to replace Michael Jordan and the Chicago

fans have wondered if it will ever be the same.

Are the Pittsburgh Steelers fans next?

Cue the curtain.

The show is almost over and unfortunately, the audience is solemnly trying to find the

exit.