Steelers News: The Patriots Just Gave PIT A GIFT + Why Aaron Rodgers Is The Leader This Team Needs

Steelers News: The Patriots Just Gave PIT A GIFT + Why Aaron Rodgers Is The Leader This Team Needs

[Music] Welcome into Steelers Talk. I’m your host, Jack Sperry. First up on today’s show, the New England Patriots may have just given the Pittsburgh Steelers a gift just before the start of the 2025 NFL season. Then we’ll discuss uh Pittsburgh not considering a certain wide receiver target that some people want them to pursue. Then we’ll get into Aaron Rogers and why I believe he is the leader that this Steelers team needs heading into this season. And then we’ll talk about Pton Wilson, the secondyear linebacker out of NC State and uh a lot of the hype coming out of training camp this year surrounding this young man. But before we get into uh today’s content, make sure you guys get down there and let me know a hot take that you have on the Pittsburgh Steelers for this season down there in the comments section. Do you think this team will win the Super Bowl? Do you think they will win three games? do you think um you know Peyton Wilson becomes an allp pro? What’s your hot take? Let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. Um and I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s some what’s some of the hot takes that you guys got uh heading into the year. So now uh today the New England Patriots surprisingly I might add cut safety Jabril Peppers who has been like a top 10 level safety in the league for the last three years there in New England. Adam Shfter from ESPN broke the news today saying the Patriots are releasing veteran safety Jabriel Peppers per source. Pepper still has 4.32 million guaranteed uh remaining on his contract for this season. Peppers has started 85 games including 26 with New England has totaled over 500 tackles, seven interceptions, six force fumbles, and seven fumble recoveries in the National Football League. So, it begs the question, could the Pittsburgh Steelers potentially want to add Jabril uh to the team here in before the 2025 season begins? All right. Ever since Ma Fitzpatrick got traded away, there’s been a lot of speculation about potentially adding another safety. And of course, they bring in Chuck Clark. Um, and of course, Juan Thornhill has played pretty darn well in Steelers training camp to this point, but Pepper’s about 30 years old, so he would be a one-year rental if you bring him in. And he brings great size to the table. 5’11 but 217 pounds can also bring some special teams upside to your team as well. And honestly guys, I think he’s been a top 10 safety in the National Football League over the past three seasons. Now, last year he was arrested and put on the commissioner’s exempl list uh because he was arrested for uh domestic violence and drug charges uh in October and was acquitted in January. So, uh, you know, last year didn’t play a whole lot, but according to the reports on the ground there in New England, he was having a good camp in preeason and, uh, the people on the ground, the reporters and such there on the beat in New England are shocked that they moved on from him, uh, heading into the year here. You can take a look at his career PFF grades, and not that uh, PFF grades are gospel or anything like that, but you guys can kind of see the progression that Peppers has had throughout his career. He was just kind of an okay safety for the first five years of his career. Uh but then when he went to New England in 2022, really took his game to the next level and has uh graded over an 80 according to PFF grading over the last two seasons. That 2023 season, guys, he was one of the best safeties in the National Football League. And personally guys, you know, I had a lot of people reach out to me today on Twitter asking if the Steelers should bring him in and stuff like that. Personally, I wouldn’t mind adding him. I think he would make this team better. you can put him in the post and you know outside of Juan Thornnehill I think he is the fastest you would be the fastest safety that the Steelers have. So you could do a lot of different things with him. That’s what the Patriots have been doing with him the last several years. And part of the reason why he was so valuable for them is because you could play him in the post. You could play him uh in the box. You can play him all over the place and play him in a maybe even a linebacker type of role in your dime set. So like there’s a lot of things you can do with a guy like Jabril Peppers. Awesome tackler as well. OB obviously, like I mentioned, brings a lot of size to the table, but he also has a lot of speed for a guy of someone of his size. Uh, so he would make this team better. Would not mind it whatsoever if he wanted to come play for the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. With that said, I don’t think that this team necessarily needs him. And I still think this defense could very well be the best defense in the National Football League this year if they don’t get him. So, at the end of the day, I’m more along the lines of, you know, if he wants to come here, great. If not, no big deal. Because you take a look at the at the safety room that the Steelers have right now. Juan Thornhill has had a hell of a camp, guys. He’s been awesome in training camp, making plays on the football, it seems like daily. And then in the preseason, he showed what he could do as well, flying to the football. People forget that guy ran a 442 and he’s a Super Bowl champion as a starting free safety. So, I think that he’s perfectly fine as the free safety uh if Jabril Peppers decides to go elsewhere. but also Deshawn Elliot, one of the best box safeties in the National Football League, one of the best overall tacklers in the league as well. Um, so right now I think that the Steelers safety situation, maybe it is the weak link of the Steelers defense and Peppers would make it better, but overall if this safety room is your weakest link on your defense, your defense is pretty freaking good. So, let’s say you guys let me know down there in the comments section, would you sign Jabril Peppers uh to add to this defense or do you think we’re good? Type S for sign or type P for pass? Let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. In just a second here, I’m going to tell you about our sponsor today at prize pix. While I’m telling you about prize pickics, get down there in the comments section and let me know if you would sign Jabril Peppers. And with that, let’s have a word from our sponsor here today at Prize Pix. And college football is finally here, folks. So, don’t miss any of the action this season by downloading the Prize Pick app today for free. Prize Pix is simple to play. Just pick just play uh pick more than or less than on two to six player stat projections. And if you get your picks right, you could cash in and win up to 2,000 times your money. Prize Pix also puts their members first, so all withdrawals are fast, safe, and secure. And Prize Pix offers Venmo, Apple Pay, Mastercard, and more for quick and easy deposits into your account this football season. Prize Pix is the best place to win cash while watching sports this football season. So join the millions of users that have already signed up and sign up for free today on your phone. I am going to be going with the more on Ryan Williams, the wide receiver out of Alabama in receiving yards this weekend. I’m going to be taking the more on Garrett Nusmeer, the LSU quarterback, as he goes up against uh the Clemson Tigers in Death Valley. Then I’m going to be taking uh the less on Carson Beck’s passing touchdowns against my Fighting Irish defense this weekend. So download the Prize Pix app today. Use code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup with Prize Pick today. That’s code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks run your game. So, it certainly appears at this point, guys, that the Pittsburgh Steelers are not in the running to sign a wide receiver, formerly with the New England Patriots in San Francisco 49ers, Kendrick Bourne. Bourne has two visits lined up for next week, and neither of them are to Pittsburgh. This is what Ian Rapaort had to say yesterday, saying free agent wide receiver Kendrick Bourne is visiting the 49ers on Monday and the Commanders on Tuesday. source said the framework of a deal is in place for both just in case. All right, so uh Kendrick Bourne not visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. There are some people speculating because of Borne’s ability to run block. he’s played in similar systems uh to Arthur Smith’s in the past that the Steelers might be interested in adding him as a wide receiver for. Uh but I think Pittsburgh’s approach is that if they’re going to sign somebody um and they’re going to be bringing in somebody before the season, I think it’s going to be somewhere along the lines of the guys they’ve shown interest in here over the last two weeks, Gabe Davis and Marquez Valdez Scantling, those two guys very similar in terms of the skill set to DK Metaf and the role that they play in an offense. And I think the Steelers realize that, you know, if DK Metaf gets hurt, uh, they need somebody that can play X. And, you know, MVS, Gabe Davis would certainly fit that bill, but obviously MVS goes to San Francisco. And it seems Gabe Davis’s knee is not in a good place right now. So, if something comes up where it makes sense to bring somebody in as a backup exceiver, I think they would jump on that. But as we’ve talked about pretty extensively on the show here, I think the Steelers feel pretty good about Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin the third in the roles that they play uh in this offense. I mean Roman I mean the Steelers are pretty much doing with Roman Wilson right now what the Vikings are doing with JJ McCarthy. And everyone thinks the Vikings are making the right move there by going with a quarterback uh that has zero proven track record on a win now team. Uh the Steelers are doing the exact same thing, right? Roman Wilson is somebody that this team drafted specifically to be their number two receiver of the future. Do they believe he’s shown enough in these practices during the offseason, during training camp, and then of course during the preseason games to be able to be given this chance? And hey, if he doesn’t uh show up at the beginning of the season, they can get aggressive and get a different veteran receiver to take that number two role for the rest of the season. But they want to see what Roman Wilson can do first before essentially benching him for his for a second uh season in his rookie contract. So that’s where I think we’re at right now, guys. if something comes up where you can get a, you know, a backup ex wide receiver, I think the Steelers will jump at that chance. But, uh, apparently Kendrick Bourne doesn’t fit that bill for them. And, you know, speaking of athleticism, ability to run after the catch, uh, separate down the field, I can see why the Steelers were not interested in him at this time. So, make sure you guys click that thumbs up icon if you haven’t already. If you are enjoying today’s video here on Steelers Talk, we do our best to give you guys the best damn Steelers coverage that you can find here on YouTube. 100% free. So, if you appreciate the work that we put in here, this is our second video that we are putting out today. Uh, click that thumbs up icon to boost that YouTube algorithm and put our video in front of more Steelers fans like yourselves. All right, so now I want to shift over to quarterback Aaron Rogers here and why I think he is the perfect leader for the Steelers uh offense and just team in general heading into this very monumental season uh for the future of this franchise. Okay. And I think that what he brings is he brings accountability. All right. And this has been uh kind of brought up by multiple people. Uh this week the athletics uh Jeff How says that Aaron Rogers is bringing a quote unquote level of accountability to the Pittsburgh Steelers offense according to a number of people inside the building. Um so apparently, you know, he’s doing a good job keeping people on task and making sure they’re doing things the correct way. And then uh Pat McAfee Show Insider Mark Kaboli says uh that said something similar on his podcast uh the Mack and Kaboli podcast earlier this week talking about Rogers’s leadership versus Russell Wilson’s. He says, “But to play devil’s advocate, do you need somebody to come in and hold some people accountable? I mean, last year you knew darn well you could do you could do anything you wanted and Russell Wilson would have and God love him put a positive spin on it. Now, if so and so uh is acting up and isn’t doing his job and old number 12 or number eight or whatever he is points him out, maybe you need that. Pointing him out might not be a bad thing. And I this is something that I have talked about on the show before. I haven’t talked about it in a while though, guys. But Russell Wilson’s positivity is great when you’re in training camp and you’re getting to know each other. And you know, I have no bad words to say about Russ. All right? I think that for what he was last year, like the Steelers made the right decision to bring him in on the veteran minimum and see what he could do. I think he had some good moments for this team last year. I still consider him a top 25 quarterback in the National Football League, but when things kind of hit the fan last year and George Pickkins got hurt and all these different things and the and things were not going right on defense, he was still we’re good, we’re good, we’re good, we’re going to go on a run, we’re going to go on a run. It’s like that’s not what we want to that’s not what we want to hear right now. We want to hear we got to get this right. We don’t want to hear that everything is good and everything’s going to be grand from the starting quarterback. We want, you know, accountability from from the people that aren’t doing the right things. When George Pickkins is acting out, we don’t want Russell Wilson to say, “Oh, yeah, he’s great. He’s doing everything just fine.” No, we want we want somebody to hold these people accountable for their actions both on and off the field. And I think that’s exactly what Aaron Rogers brings to this Steelers culture. I mean, Rogers obviously doesn’t have a lot of time left in his NFL career. This might be his last shot to win a second Lombardi trophy, and he only has one year to get this thing right. So, he’s not going to be waiting around waiting for people to do it right. He’s going to want and really demand people do things the right way all the time so that this team can be the best it can possibly be. And listen, man, like if there’s players that, you know, don’t take kindly to that, then that’s just too bad. All right? This is something where, you know, if you want to have the best culture in the National Football League and you want to be able to turn this thing around in one year, you got to be able to hold people accountable. You have to maintain a high standard and you can’t just stay positive when things aren’t going well because people know that that’s fake. With Aaron Rogers, you know, you get the real deal. And then also, you know, I think another thing that Aaron Rogers has brought to the table as a leader is that his guys don’t want to let him down. You can hear it when DK Metaf talks. You can hear it when you talk when you hear Jaylen Warren talk. You can hear it when you hear about Roman Wilson and Pat Fmouth and John Smith. All these guys want to help Rogers win. All right? Like Rogers is the type of guy where he goes in there, he makes very meaningful relationships with these guys. I mean, I think it’s been well documented that he’s he’s formed some pretty powerful bonds with these players, and because of that, they don’t want to let him down. All right, so I’m not saying Russell Wilson didn’t do those things, but Rogers certainly brings that to the table here, and I’m looking forward to seeing what this team can do under his leadership here in 2025. So, what say you guys? Let me know down there in the comments section. Is Rogers the leader this offense needs? Yes or no? Let me know what you guys think down there in the comments section. For me, I do. Uh but let me know what you guys think down there in the comments. Final topic on today’s show. I want to talk about Payton Wilson, who is my pick to be the breakout star of the Steelers defense this year. The secondyear linebacker out of NC State. Um you know, guys like Luke Keequley, who obviously knows a thing or two about uh inside linebacker play. Uh Patrick Queen and others including TJ Watt in camp this year are talking about this kid like he is going to be the next big thing at the offball linebacker position. All right. Like Queenie said today that uh Pad or or on the Cam Hayward podcast that they filmed back in Latroe. Queeny said that Peyton Wilson’s faster than him. Patrick Queen’s one of the fastest linebackers in football and Peyton Wilson put on like 15 20 pounds of weight this off seasonason and he’s still as fast. like Peyton Wilson is going to be uh you know last year he was awesome in that you know kind of pass coverage centric role because he was a lighter linebacker but this year he put on weight but he still maintain that speed so he’s going to still be able to cover guys but he’s also going to be able to be an impact against the run as well and when you combine Patrick Queen a former allpro linebacker with Peyton Wilson who’s one of the upandcoming players at this position if he can stay healthy for yet another season my prediction is Pton Wilson is going to be Pittsburgh’s best linebacker this season and he is going to be one of the best defensive players on this entire defensive roster. And I understand who who I’m talking about here. Like we got TJ Watt on this team, we got Alex Heismith on this team. We got Cam Award. We got all pros on this defense. And I still think this kid has a chance to be one of the best players on this entire defense and make plays all over the place in both phases. Against the run, against the pass, it doesn’t matter. I think this kid is the future uh leader of this defense and I can’t wait to see him play here on 2025. So, who’s going to have the better season at the offball linebacker position this year? Type PQ if you think Patrick and Queenie is going to have the better season or if you think PW Pub is going to be coming up here um and take over that number one linebacker role moving forward. Type PW down there in the comments section. That’ll be it for today’s coverage of Steelers News and Rumors here on Steelers Talk. If you made it to the end of the show today and you watch both videos all the way to the end, that makes you a real one. So, if that describes you, identify yourselves down there in the comments section by typing real one in all caps so that we can give you some love down there in the comments section. And that’ll be it for today’s edition of Steelers Talk by Chat Sports. Thank you guys so much for stopping by today. We’ll have more Steelers coverage coming out tomorrow. Tomorrow I actually uh have our first uh college football quarterback preview of the year, letting you guys know seven college quarterbacks that you got to be watching out for this weekend as a Steelers fan. It’s going to be a very fun video. Make sure you click that subscribe button so you know when it comes out tomorrow morning. Until next time, guys. Here we go, Steelers. [Music]

Pittsburgh Steelers news on Friday, August 29th, centers around the surprising release of former Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers and whether or not Steelers GM Omar Khan should consider bringing him in to make this Steelers defense even better than it already is heading into the 2025 NFL season. Also on today’s show, Steelers Talk host and Chat Sports NFL Analyst Jack Sperry goes over why the Steelers are not in the running for wide receiver Kendrick Bourne at the moment, why Aaron Rodgers is the leader this Steelers offense needs this season, and why Jack is expecting Payton Wilson to be one of, if not *the* breakout star for the Steelers defense this season.

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Jabrill Peppers’ career PFF grades:
– 2017: 60.5
– 2018: 77.6
– 2019: 64.3
– 2020: 64.7
– 2021: 58.7
– 2022: 75.0
– 2023: 87.3
– 2024: 82.3

Jabrill Peppers’ resume:
– About to turn 30 Years Old (5’11”, 217 lbs)
– Has been a top 10 NFL safety the last 3 years
– Arrested on domestic violence and drug charges in OCT 2024 & was acquitted in JAN 2025

Get involved in the conversation by answering today’s Steelers questions and talk some Steelers football with fellow Yinzers:
– Let me know a HOT TAKE you have for the Steelers this season!
– Would you sign Jabrill Peppers? Type ‘S’ for Sign or Type ‘P’ for Pass
– Is Rodgers the leader this offense needs? Yes or No?
– BETTER SEASON? Patrick Queen Type ‘PQ’ or Payton Wilson Type ‘PW’

Steelers news articles on our Chat Sports website come from trusted sources like ESPN, The Athletic, Bleacher Report, Fox Sports, CBS Sports + local Steelers outlets like Steelers Depot & others! Check it out today: https://www.chatsports.com/pittsburgh-steelers

Kendrick Bourne’s 2024 stats:
– Receptions: 28
– Receiving yards: 305
– Receiving touchdowns: 1
– Yards per catch: 10.9

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2025 Pittsburgh Steelers Coaching Staff:

Head Coach: Mike Tomlin
Offensive Coordinator & Playcaller: Arthur Smith
Defensive Coordinator & Playcaller: Teryl Austin
Special Teams Coordinator: Danny Smith

For Steelers All-22 film analysis, check out Steelers Talk host Jack Sperry’s X account to learn more about Steelers football: https://x.com/jack_sperry

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Check out more Steelers Talk here on YouTube:
– SPICY Steelers Trade Rumors: Anthony Richardson, Brandin Cooks & Romeo Doubs LINKED To Pittsburgh – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vwsDiMUKZ0
– Steelers News: 3 WAYS The Micah Parsons Trade Affects The Steelers | Dak Prescott To PIT In 2026? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YxPBmW8nEE
– MORE Steelers News & Rumors: Insider SHOOTS DOWN Recent WR Rumors + PIT Makes 4 Roster Moves – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_bwwFgj3Ms

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