As the NFL season inches closer to its start, the Pittsburgh Steelers have made interesting moves to their roster this offseason.
After waiting until the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft to finally choose a quarterback to add to their roster, it seems that the Steelers were betting on Aaron Rodgers to come in and fill their empty starting quarterback position.
This would later come true, and the Steelers were able to sign Rodgers to a one-year, $13.65 million contract that comes with $10 million in guaranteed money on June 7.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers
© Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images
The Steelers have made other offseason acquisitions as well, when they traded their 2024 leading receiver in George Pickens.
Pickens was about to enter his final year of a rookie contract he signed with the team after being drafted in the second round (52nd overall) in 2022.
His contract situation wasn’t the only thing that drove the Steelers to move on from Pickens, after ESPN analyst Jeremy Fowler reported that there was another lingering issue that drove Pittsburgh to make the decision to trade him.
“His maturity issues were well-known within Pittsburgh’s locker room and front office. So, the Steelers made the evaluation that Pickens and Rodgers probably would not hit it off,” Fowler said in an article on June 17.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens, now with the Dallas Cowboys.
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
The Pittsburgh Steelers received a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick from the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for George Pickens and a 2027 sixth-round pick on May 7. A move that was made nearly a month before Aaron Rodgers agreed to terms with the Steelers.
Pickens has faced financial issues stemming from his time in Pittsburgh, accumulating over six figures in fines from the league and the Steelers since entering the NFL in 2022.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had also made the issue public in interviews from the past, saying, “He’s got a target on his back because he’s George, he understands that. But he’s got to grow up. He’s got to grow up in a hurry.”
It seems that there was a lot of plotting that went behind the Steelers’ plan this offseason and a majority of it was left out of the public seen, but now the Steelers will look to lean on Aaron Rodgers and their newly acquired wide receiver DK Metcalf.
