Whereas Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is reportedly “excited” to presumably 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 reside 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 individuals 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 assume Arthur’s gonna again right 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 is not any indication the Steelers will both convey Hackett in or dismiss Smith. For a mailbag revealed on Thursday, Mike DeFabo of The Athletic advised 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 known as the fourth-most runs within the league in 2024 and a receiving corps higher recognized for its capability to catch deep balls than to run detailed routes.”
With that mentioned, Rodgers is a 41-year-old signal-caller who has handled 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 study what he does? Or are you gonna have Aaron are available in and study what everyone else already is aware of, and you’ve got one participant study the brand new verbiage?” Palmer added throughout the section. “There are individuals in that constructing which might be asking that query, which might be curious how that is gonna go down.”
The truth that the Steelers at the moment are on monitor to start out 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 utterly slammed the door shut on reaching out to Rodgers earlier than coaching camp practices get underway.
