At least one Trump supporter will still be getting paid
By 
If you’re a Steelers fan, and you liked Russell Wilson’s production in 2025 would would have liked it better if he spent a lot more time bashing teammates in between conspiracy theories on national podcasts, I have great news for you:
After weeks of waiting and mulling his different options, Aaron Rodgers has chosen his new NFL team. The four-time NFL MVP is signing a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers, sources told CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. Rodgers will attend Pittsburgh’s mandatory minicamp next week.
The Steelers were one of three teams viewed as being in the running for Rodgers. The New York Giants were another, but instead opted to sign Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson. The Minnesota Vikings were also a team to watch; the sides had had conversations before the Vikings ultimately decided to go ahead with J.J. McCarthy, a 2024 first-round pick who was injured his entire rookie season.
The Steelers made it clear at the NFL Scouting Combine that they wanted to re-sign either Wilson or Justin Fields at quarterback before the start of free agency, but failed on both counts. Now, Pittsburgh has committed to going the veteran quarterback route for another year while bringing back Mason Rudolph and drafting Ohio State QB Will Howard in the seventh round.
Tanier’s summary of where the Steelers are now seems even more grim now that they’ve circled back to Rodgers out quiet desperation:
The Steelers have done a handful of things well for many years. They draft and develop outstanding edge rushers. Mike Tomlin coaches up the bottom of the roster well; organizational continuity works to his benefit here, as the scouting department knows what he wants and his assistants know their roles. The Steelers squeeze every drop of value from bugnuts mega-diva receivers before the Joker gas fully takes hold of their brains. They often dawdle when extending the contracts of their top stars – it’s time to extend T.J. Watt, fellas – but they usually get the deals done.
The Steelers also do some things very poorly. They are reluctant free agent shoppers. Tomlin prefers conservative-to-a-fault offensive strategies. And the franchise has been in denial about its quarterback situation since Ben Roethlisberger’s 2019 elbow injury.
Those Steelers weaknesses really collided this offseason. A team that bounces from “Maybe Big Ben can throw without an elbow for a few more years” to gassing up local hero Kenny Pickett to “Pickett is dead to us forever” to playing multiple choice with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson to “Aaron Rodgers: who says no?” (everyone does, including themselves and Rodgers) clearly has no idea what it wants from a quarterback.
The Steelers hate making splashy offers, making it hard to make the bold moves needed to sign Rodgers or find some creative solution. Their continuity has also fostered inflexibility: when faced with the challenge of trying something new, the Steelers inevitably reverted to their comfort zone by drafting defensive players and running backs.
I think this offseason got away from the Steelers. The immediate free-agent interest in Fields and Wilson caught them off guard, as did the mutual ambivalence between themselves and Rodgers. Shedeur likely tanked his five-hour interview with the Steelers on April 18th. I believe the Steelers suddenly found themselves without a quarterback plan one week before the draft, and they’re not the sort of organization that stops on a dime and changes course.
Tomlin has been an excellent coach for a long time, but this offseason would have been a good time for both him and the organization to get a fresh start apart from each other. Instead, they’re hoping that Rodgers has one more decent year in him, leading a good defense to..the kind of one-and-done wildcard season they’ve already done many, many times. There was no plan before and there still isn’t. A bad year is a bad year, but late-period Rodgers can do damage to your organization that takes years to fix while you don’t win now either. I will concede, though, that the Rodgers/D.K. Metcalf experience will be amusing in a Trump v. Elon kind of way.
It’s pretty sad for the Steelers to make the Jets look like the adults in the room by comparison. At least the QB room will be united on one subject:
The Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly responding to fans upset that current and former members of the team attended a rally hosted by President Donald Trump on Friday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Quarterback Mason Rudolph, safety Miles Killebrew and former Steelers running back Rocky Bleier all attended a rally hosted by Trump in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, not far from Pittsburgh. At the event, the three presented Trump with a Steelers No. 47 jersey.
Some fans were upset about that decision, and decided to email the team with their complaints.