{"id":855248,"date":"2026-04-05T15:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/855248\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T15:04:19","slug":"former-browns-star-slams-steelers-aaron-rodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/855248\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Browns Star Slams Steelers&#8217; Aaron Rodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">PITTSBURGH &#8212; The Pittsburgh Steelers still don&#8217;t know the answer from Aaron Rodgers, who is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/steelers\/onsi\/news\/pittsburgh-steelers-100-confident-one-thing-aaron-rodgers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">contemplating returning for 2026 or hanging up his cleats for the final time and retiring<\/a> from the National Football League. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">The wait hasn&#8217;t been received well. Nearly everyone speaking on the matter tends to side with the opinion that the Steelers don&#8217;t look good waiting, and that Rodgers is pulling a stunt that looks a little disrespectful in the process. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\">That includes a former Cleveland Browns star and two-time All-Pro. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">Former Steelers rival and Pro Bowl kick returner Joshua Cribbs spoke about the Rodgers situation on the Top Dawgs Show and didn&#8217;t hold back about how Pittsburgh is waiting for what he believes is nothing. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">&#8220;If he makes a commitment to them, like, he can do that,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@BIGPLAYCleveland\/featured\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cribbs said.<\/a> &#8220;I just think, I\u2019m not going to count him out. I counted him out last year, I said they\u2019d be last in the league, and he pulled a rabbit out of a hat. I was like, \u2018Wow, look at that. Steelers going to the playoffs. Winning season.\u2019 I just didn\u2019t think that was going to happen. I don\u2019t think they have enough in the tank [this year], he has enough in the tank as a quarterback, to lead them to a Super Bowl.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/01knex1kbb6pxwz76phq.jpg\" alt=\"Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers \" title=\"Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers \" width=\"8256\" height=\"5504\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"72\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Dec 28, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) looks on after the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">Rodgers finished the 2025 season with 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Steelers won the AFC North but lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, with Rodgers&#8217; last pass being an interception. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"79\">When asked at the NFL League Meetings if McCarthy is focused on the team&#8217;s Plan B, he said he&#8217;s not paying attention to hypotheticals right now. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7c\">&#8220;I\u2019m just focused on my next conversation with him. He\u2019s engaged with what\u2019s going on,&#8221; he said. <\/p>\n<p>Steelers Waiting for Nothing?<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7i\">It is hard to imagine the Steelers pulling off a Super Bowl run in 2026, but Rodgers does give them their best chance. Right now, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/steelers\/onsi\/news\/former-pittsburgh-steelers-charlie-batch-sends-challenge-will-howard\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Will Howard<\/a> and Mason Rudolph would be their backup plan, and while there&#8217;s plenty of excitement about Howard&#8217;s future, he&#8217;s likely not leading this team to a playoff run with his first NFL snaps. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7l\">So, whether or not you believe Rodgers is bringing the Steel City a new Lombardi Trophy, he does provide the best chance at pulling off a miracle. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/steelers\/onsi\/news\/finally-time-believe-pittsburgh-steelers-aaron-rodgers-timeline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">And the Steelers are ready to wait <\/a>as long as they need to to chase that miracle with Rodgers. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/steelers\/onsi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter for the latest news and updates on the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH &#8212; The Pittsburgh Steelers still don&#8217;t know the answer from Aaron Rodgers, who is contemplating returning for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,6,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-855248","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-pittsburgh","11":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","12":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","13":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116352717076608912","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}