On The Move: Breaking Down Aaron Rodgers On The Steelers

Aaron Rodgers is officially a Steeler, and now that the worst-kept secret in the NFL is confirmed, we can finally hash out whether this living legend has another year of fantasy relevance in him. Rodgers’ reputation certainly took massive hits since joining the New York Jets, and while there were signs of life in 2024, his recent history is bleak.

Rodgers’ final season in Green Bay was unhappy and unproductive by his standards; he threw just 26 touchdowns, nearly matched a career-high in interceptions (12), and failed to his 4,000 yards in a full season for the first time since 2015. He went to the Jets, lasting four plays, and plunging that offense into absolute decadence via his absence. When Rodgers finally was healthy and playing for the Jets he was….fine?

This was a team with talent that Rodgers was expected to be the missing piece for. Instead, he helmed the NFL’s 20th-ranked offense per FTN Fantasy’s Weighted DVOA, while the Jets offense managed the 25th-most yards of offense in the league, and scored the 25th-most points. This was hardly what the Jets envisioned from this A-list Hall of Fame QB, especially with one of the NFL’s best young WRs (Garrett Wilson) playing a full season, and more than a half season with fellow future Hall of Famer Davante Adams. But while the offense saw mediocre results, Rodgers himself wasn’t awful.

He was PFF’s No. 18 QB, finished eighth in passing TDs (28) and tied with Josh Allen, eighth in passing yards (3,897) and fifth in pass attempts per game. And while Rodgers did have glossy names in the pass-catching department, the Jets’ depth at the position was sorely lacking and his pass-catching corps led the NFL with 35 drops. Rodgers’ 6.2% drop rate was fourth in the NFL among QBs who had eight or more starts, and he played most of the season under duress. The Jets’ offensive line was middling as a pass-blocking unit (17th-worst), while Rodgers absorbed the eighth-most hits (50) and faced the seventh-most pressures (123) in the NFL. So while Rodgers, who will turn 42 this season, is well past his prime he also dealt with several factors that limited him during the year. And that doesn’t even account for the tumultuous coaching situation which involved the head coach being fired early in the season, Rodgers’ hand-picked offensive coordinator being unceremoniously demoted, and the entire remaining staff all scrambling and shifting into roles they were not suited for.

In Pittsburgh, the coaching situation will be infinitely more stable. That’s good for consistency, but a potential breeding ground for conflict as Rodgers’ big personality has to co-exist with Mike Tomlin’s vice grip on Steelers culture. None of the offensive line issues Rodgers faced improve with this move. Pittsburgh’s line ranked in the Bottom 10 of the NFL last year. And while the Jets’ pass-catching depth left much to be desired, the Steelers’ receiving corps is dire. They traded George Pickens this offseason, leaving Rodgers one pass-catcher inside PFF’s Top 35, D.K. Metcalf, and no one else within the Top 75. Metcalf has long been a playmaking X receiver, but he’s never been the sole threat of a passing game, and he’s never had to play with a QB who values timing and precision the way Rodgers does. Beyond him, the names are Robert Woods, entering Year 13 of his career, Calvin Austin III, a very small and one-dimensional deep threat, and second-year man Roman Wilson who played five snaps in 2024 and earned zero targets.

So while Rodgers still carries a ton of name value and the narrative will be that Pittsburgh is a playoff-ready team that simply needed a QB upgrade, they are strikingly similar to the Jets and present the same pitfalls. Their offensive line does not appear to be ready to support a downright elderly (by NFL standards) QB who is now stationary and increasingly unwilling to take big hits. This is a QB who has failed to hit 4,000 passing yards or 30 touchdowns in either of his last two full seasons, and those campaigns sandwich a lost 2023 in which he tore his Achilles. He’s also now running an offense with exactly one receiving threat that an opposing defense should worry about. Rodgers will look good in black and gold, and the stable situation makes it tempting to see him as a big value with a near-free ADP, but don’t be fooled. He’s declined significantly, lacks the support system to hide his flaws,  and offers zero on the ground. Rodgers’ presence is a good thing for Metcalf and the other Steelers’ pass-catchers, but he’s no more than a matchup-dependent spot start.