Future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers has reportedly been interested in joining the Steelers throughout this offseason.
Rodgers has yet to decide his plans for this coming year, but playing in Pittsburgh seems to be a real possibility.
With that said, former Steelers star Ryan Clark does not believe Rodgers should come to Pittsburgh to play for the Steelers following the trade of George Pickens to the Cowboys on Wednesday.
With Rodgers’ career winding down, Clark doesn’t feel like Rodgers would have a chance to win a championship in Pittsburgh.
“If I’m Aaron Rodgers, I’m not going to Pittsburgh,” Ryan Clark said Wednesday on Get Up. “The attractive part about Pittsburgh was having George Pickens, was having DK Metcalf – two dudes that have these very different skillsets, but they’re both also dynamic and explosive and now you have Pat Freiermuth. You go out in the draft and get a big, bruising back from Iowa (Kaleb Johnson). But in the offseason you get Kenneth Gainwell, as well.
“So you had all of these pieces to be excited about. But the most exciting two pieces was the fact that you had two absolute monsters… on the outside. And now you no longer have that.”
The Steelers traded Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Cowboys in exchange for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
The move could prove to be beneficial for the Steelers down the line, but it doesn’t help them right now. If Rodgers does indeed play in the NFL in 2025, Clark believes he needs to look for a better situation.
“If I’m Aaron Rodgers, who knows my skills are diminished, who knows that my time is coming to an end, why would I go a place that seemingly is not building a roster to compete for championships, just to play.” Clark said. “Aaron Rodgers just did that last year. So to me, this isn’t a team that’s ready to compete.”
Finally, Ryan Clark said that he doesn’t believe the move makes sense for the Steelers, either. Instead, he feels like Pittsburgh should tank and start looking ahead to the 2026 NFL Draft and beyond.
“If you’re going to suck, suck all the way,” Clark said. “Let’s go get Arch [Manning] or let’s go get [Garrett] Nussmeier. Let’s go get somebody that can really go. But don’t add more to this team and trying to get Aaron Rodgers and be mediocre enough to not pick high.”