An era of Pittsburgh Steelers football has come and gone now that Mike Tomlin is out in the Steel City. Within Tomlin’s 19 season tenure with the team, other eras ended as well: the Ben Roethlisberger era, the Troy Polamalu and James Harrison era, and now, the longest one of all has ended with Tomlin stepping down as head coach.
One of the shortest eras of the last 20 years of Pittsburgh football also seems to be ending: the Aaron Rodgers experience. Short and sweet, all signs are pointing towards Rodgers being done in Pittsburgh and maybe even the NFL.
Steelers’ owner Art Rooney spoke about Rodgers on Wednesday, and gave an equally short but telling statement on Rodgers’ future with the team:
“[Rodgers] came here to play for [Tomlin],” Rooney said. “So it would most likely affect his decision.”
Sounds like #Steelers President Art Rooney believes Aaron Rodgers has played his last down in Pittsburgh.
The Aaron Rodgers Experiment: Was it a Success?
Believing they had a playoff caliber roster before the 2025 season began, the Steelers made a bold move by signing Rodgers to a one year, $13.65 million deal. Failed experiments with Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, and Kenny Pickett post Ben Roethlisberger caused frustration within the fanbase for years, so looking for a momentum shift, they did the unexpected by saving Rodgers from the New York Jets.
So, was this rollercoaster of a season a success?
The short answer is no; the Steelers fell very short in crunch time against the Houston Texans on Monday night in the Wild Card round. They were pretty clearly the weakest team in the NFL playoffs despite all the momentum they gained from their end of season run to clinch the AFC North. Their long stretch of seasons without a playoff win will last at least another year.
But in some aspects, you could consider this season a success. Obviously not in Pittsburgh’s final standing and the way the season ended, but with Tomlin and Rodgers likely out the door, we may finally see a reset within one of the most storied franchises in the NFL.
And this reset has been a long time coming. Tomlin, for all of his success throughout his tenure, probably hit his expiration date with the team a long time ago, and for whatever reason, he finally accepted that fact this week.
Is it sad to see one of the most stoic and respected coaches in the NFL leave his longtime home with the Steelers? Of course. But now Pittsburgh fans can lean into the rebuild and move away from this stress of wondering whether their middling rosters could make a playoff run.
It’s a bittersweet reset button for a team with all of the tools to complete a quick turnaround.
Keys For Future Success in Pittsburgh
My two cents on how to re-tool this Steelers team without tanking begin and end with the head coach and the quarterback.
It’s an offense first league, so first and foremost, the Steelers need an offensive minded head coach moving forward. The first guys that come to mind are Klint Kubiak and Mike McDaniel.
Secondly, the Steelers need to stop looking for plug and play veterans like Rodgers and Russell Wilson. They haven’t had a high-potential young quarterback since Roethlisberger was young; that was in 2004. It’s time to build around a young quarterback and reset an offense that has become so stagnant in the last decade.
It’ll be tough to find that quarterback considering the team will be drafting in the middle of the first round and this is a weak QB class, but there are ways around that. They could explore trading up, or finding ways to acquire top picks in the 2027 Draft, which projects to have a more complete QB class.
It could also mean trading for or signing a bridge quarterback with higher potential like Malik Willis or Tyler Huntley.
Steelers Owner Art Rooney Drops Truth Bomb About Aaron Rodgers’ Future