Members of the Pittsburgh Steelers organization may be frustrated with the length of Aaron Rodgers’ free agency. But one of Pittsburgh’s top leaders, Cameron Heyward, defended the quarterback on social media Monday.
Heyward took significant issue with a tweet that stated NFL fans were praising the New York Jets for how they parted ways with Rodgers this offseason.
The tweet Heyward responded to came from an NFL rumors account. The tweet was in reaction to what fans have been saying online since Rodgers criticized the Jets about his departure from the organization this offseason.
Rodgers criticized the Jets while appearing on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday.
“How can this be praised? This ain’t cool…” tweeted Heyward in response.
Steelers’ Cameron Heyward Defends QB Aaron Rodgers
As one could have guessed, Heyward received a lot of feedback for his one-liner defending Rodgers. In the first few hours after defending Rodgers, the Steelers defensive lineman only made one reply to the feedback he received.
One social media user apparently found Heyward’s defense of Rodgers more about the defensive lineman sticking up for a teammate. But the Steelers captain clarified that wasn’t his intention.
With a second tweet, Heyward made clear he disagreed with how the Jets handled parting with Rodgers.
“That ain’t business … communicate with agent if you don’t want to deal with it .. has nothin to do with being my teammate,” tweeted Heyward.
During his interview with McAfee, Rodgers stated his conversation with new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn was only a few minutes long. The two sides had the brief conversation despite Rodgers flying across the country to meet with the organization.
Ironically, Rodgers has yet to officially become Heyward’s teammate in Pittsburgh. But Heyward still argued his defense of the quarterback had nothing to do with his personal feelings about him.
NFL insiders have reported multiple times this offseason the signs point to Rodgers signing with the Steelers. However, that appears very much in doubt after what else the quarterback had to say to McAfee on Thursday.
“This entire time, I haven’t felt like I owed anybody some sort of decision at any point,” Rodgers told McAfee. “This is my life. Things are different now. My life is different; my personal life is different.”
Furthermore, Rodgers added the Steelers haven’t given him a deadline to make a final free agency decision.
Heyward Changing His Tune Around Rodgers
Because of what Heyward has previously said about Rodgers this offseason, it’s more than fair to question how genuine Heyward’s defense was of the quarterback.
On March 18, Heyward didn’t sound pleased about Rodgers dragging his feet with his NFL free agency decision.
“I ain’t doing that darkness retreat. I don’t need any of that crap,” Heyward said on his podcast. “Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don’t.
“That’s simple. That’s the pitch.”
Heyward made those comments to a question about what his pitch would be to convince Rodgers to sign with the Steelers. Notably, the veteran defensive lineman had a very different pitch to quarterback Russell Wilson last offseason.
“I was out at a conference in Arizona,” Heyward told NFL personality Kay Adams in an interview last year. “And then I came back to my room and me and Russ just talked for about two hours. We talked ball.
“I knew he was having conversations with the Steelers. The main thing I did tell him was just, this isn’t the place for glitz and glamor. It’s not LA. It’s not Atlanta. This is the place where the gladiators come, and we’re gonna compete every day.
On March 21, Heyward tried to walk back what he said about Rodgers on his podcast while appearing on The Rich Eisen Show. It’s quite possible Heyward’s defense of the quarterback on April 21 was another attempt for him to be seen publicly supporting Rodgers.
After all, the Steelers don’t need Rodgers and Heyward to have a beef even before the quarterback arrives, if he agrees to join Pittsburgh.
Heyward is smart enough to realize that. But because of his March 18 remarks on the quarterback and the Steelers remaining need behind center, some fans are likely to doubt the sincerity of anything positive Cameron Heyward says about Rodgers this offseason.
