Aaron Rodgers has finally committed to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The four-time NFL MVP has signed a one-year contract with the franchise after months of speculation.
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Rodgers was released by the New York Jets in March, and was said to be weighing up retirement before landing in the Steel City nearly three months later.
He has inked a $13.65m base deal, but one that includes nearly $6m in incentives.
If the Steelers clinch a playoff berth next season, Rodgers will be paid an additional $500,000. A Wild Card win adds another $600k, with a Divisional Round win awarding him $750k more, and the Conference Championship landing him another $1m.
Should Pittsburgh win the Super Bowl, the veteran will make another $1.5m. He would also be paid the same figure for being awarded a fifth MVP trophy.
Now that he’s in the building, the conversation has shifted from whether or not he will sign, to what he can actually achieve with Pittsburgh.
Some have already suggested Rodgers could be nothing more than a one-year placeholder for a $6.5m college superstar.
Others, like legendary NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson, believe the veteran will give the Steelers organization and their fans hope.
“Look at the AFC North, it’s dominated by Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow,” Ocho said on the latest Nightcap podcast.
“Aaron Rodgers is better than everything the Steelers have at the quarterback position. That’s no disrespect to Mason Rudolph, or anyone else.
“If he can show just glimpses of what he was once in the past, I think they will be OK. They have enough pieces around him… a nice supporting cast.”
Johnson’s comments came during a conversation with Shannon Sharpe and four-time Pro Bowler Matthew Judon, and the latter went on to suggest that Rodgers was Pittsburgh’s best-case scenario ahead of 2025, because they were never in a position to draft a top prospect.
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“I think the Steelers get hurt from the greatness of Mike Tomlin,” he explained.
“Mike Tomlin is always going to have them in contention, so they can’t go and farm a quarterback from the draft. This is their best pick.
“If Rodgers can come in, complete passes, be good in the locker room and do enough, they’re going to be in the playoffs again because of how Mike Tomlin has that physical defense.
“It’s going to be hard for them to be bad, they just can’t mess it up on offense.”
The dynamic between Rodgers and Tomlin was then further discussed by the Nightcap trio, and they questioned if there’s a scenario in which the veteran QB ends up putting his coach in hot water.
“If he doesn’t play well, players get coaches fired, man,” Johnson continued.
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“Tomlin’s going to be on the hot seat. (Rodgers) had the whole organization waiting, he’s come in now and signed because they’ve got minicamp soon.
“That’s a good sign, that lets me know he’s buying in, as oppose to what he did (with the Jets) last season.
“But I think if they have a bad season (Mike Tomlin will be on the hotseat).
“They were already talking about it last year.”
While Ocho and Judon were in agreement about the possibility of Tomlin being fired should the Rodgers experiment fail, Sharpe initially dismissed the idea.
“Bro, the Steelers haven’t fired a coach since 1969. I was born in ’68. I’m about to be 57. So they haven’t fired a coach in 56 years,” he said.
After taking a beat, though, he began to question what success looks like in Pittsburgh these days.
Sharpe continued: “I don’t think it’s enough (to have a winning season).
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“(Tomlin) is the one that says ‘the standard is the standard.’ If the standard is getting to — or competing for Super Bowls — they haven’t competed for a Super Bowl for a long time.
“When was the last time someone thought the Steelers would be a threat in the playoffs? We’re talking, bare minimum, five years.
“They haven’t been a serious threat since Ben (Roethlisberger).”
Sharpe went on to suggest that good teams draft quarterbacks for the future when their franchise star is coming to the end of his career, but noted that the Steelers haven’t done that.
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“What did Kansas City do? Drafted a quarterback, and still had one on the roster. What did Baltimore do when they had Joe Flacco? They drafted a quarterback,” he added.
“That’s what good teams do. If you wait until your car breaks down on the side of the road, it’s too late, you’re already stranded… It’s Mike’s fault.
“He’s been there damn near 20 years.”
If Rodgers fails to produce for the Steelers next year, then questions will be asked — not only about him, but about long-term recruitment too.
As Sharpe suggests, part of that does come down to Tomlin, and perhaps the idea of Pittsburgh firing a coach for the first time in more than five decades wouldn’t be out of the question.
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