PHOTO BY EVAN SIEGLE, GREEN BAY PACKERS

He may have been floating around in the stratosphere, figuratively and for all we know literally, ever since being released by the Jets back on Feb. 20, but it now appears the Aaron Rodgers saga is at long last approaching its final twists and turns.

And that Rodgers’ final destination is Pittsburgh.

The Steelers have suspected as much for some time now, even as they’ve inspired the ire of a significant portion of their fan base and a particularly whiny contingent of the national media, all of whom long ago decided this was taking way too long, and that the Steelers were somehow worse off for enduring such a process.

Now, the word is apparently out.

And now, it’s more than just the Steelers who have a pretty good idea how this is going to end.

The latest confirmation was offered up by one of Rodgers’ former coaches in Green Bay, Wisconsin — Matt LaFleur, who had this to say about the Steelers and Rodgers:
“I’m pretty sure they know what they’re doing. I’m sure they’re confident in what they’re doing and I would fully expect him to be a Pittsburgh Steeler,” he said during a visit with Kay Adams on “Up & Adams” this week.

I’m guessing others around the NFL are sharing a similar sentiment.

I also suspect Rodgers might wait until as late as the opening of Mandatory Veteran Minicamp on June 10 to make it official.

The Steelers are scheduled to conduct six voluntary Organized Team Activities, known as OTAs, in advance of that, but nobody should be holding their breath expecting Rodgers to attend any of those.
As Steelers President Art Rooney II observed during the NFL Draft regarding Rodgers and such offseason endeavors, “We’d like to get him here soon for some of that.”

June 10 is soon enough, apparently.

Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, meanwhile, suggested this week that Rodgers will have been worth the wait if and when he finally arrives.

On the latest edition of his “Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger” podcast, Big Ben maintained the Steelers would finish 11-6 this season with Rodgers and 7-10 with someone else under center.
“That’s called three letters, H-O-F,” Roethlisberger maintained, referencing Rodgers’ eventual landing spot beyond Pittsburgh, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “That’s what that will get you.”

He has a point. Roethlisberger, like Rodgers, can count on Canton, Ohio as his last football stop.And the difference a well-past-his-prime Roethlisberger made in 2021, relying on a still-good-enough arm and his experience and guile, is worth remembering.

The Steelers went 9-7-1 that season. They did so with an offensive line that initially included rookie Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle, rookie Kendrick Green at center, veteran Trai Turner at right guard and veteran Chukwuma Okorafor at right tackle. They did so with rookies at running back (Najee Harris) and tight end (Pat Freiermuth). They did so with Diontae Johnson as their best wide receiver.

They did so mostly because of Roethlisberger’s in-helmet experience.

They have a chance to be better and, in all likelihood, should be better this season along the offensive line, at wide receiver (even with a bunch of question marks lining up behind DK Metcalf), at running back (rookie Kaleb Johnson should at least be what Harris was as a rookie) and at tight end (where Freiermuth is much more polished).

And while they won’t be getting the four-time MVP version of Rodgers once they eventually get him, they should still be getting a QB capable of leading an offense that packs a little more wallop than the “Chuck-N-Duck” version of Big Ben’s final campaign.

They’d still lack the in-a-perfect-world mobility head coach Mike Tomlin values, and would if the guy at QB ends up being Mason Rudolph for whatever reason.

But there was also this from Rooney back in late January regarding what the Steelers were after at the position, what they’ve been after, as it turns out, since Roethlisberger:

“I think the quarterback has to be able to read the defense and get the team in a play that is good against the defense he’s looking at. No matter if he’s mobile or not, that’s what you’ve got to start with.”
That’s why they’ve waited as long as they have, and why Rodgers will have been worth the wait.

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.