Steelers are copying the Jets' Aaron Rodgers blueprint that already failed

The New York Jets went all-in on the Aaron Rodgers era, and as we now know, it blew up in spectacular fashion. A Super Bowl-or-bust roster built around an aging quarterback, a carousel of high-profile veterans, and blind faith in a broken culture resulted in five total wins and another regime change.

Now the Pittsburgh Steelers are trying the exact same thing.

In the aftermath of Monday’s stunning trade that sent Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith to Pittsburgh, it’s clear the Steelers are pushing all their chips in for 2025.

Ramsey joins an aging roster that already added Rodgers, DK Metcalf, and Darius Slay this offseason. The plan is obvious. The Steelers are trying to surround Rodgers with stars and ride whatever he has left in the tank to a championship.

It’s a strategy that should sound a bit familiar to Jets fans. The Steelers are betting on a very similar blueprint and hoping the ending looks different this time.

Jalen Ramsey trade proves Steelers are copying the Jets' Aaron Rodgers plan

The Jets tried this exact formula a year ago. They acquired Rodgers to be the supposed final piece of a championship puzzle, then eventually loaded the roster with recognizable names around him.

The likes of Tyron Smith, Mike Williams, Dalvin Cook, Haason Reddick, and many others were all brought in over the last two offseasons. The front office surrounded Rodgers with veteran talent and doubled down with aggressive win-now moves. It didn’t matter.

Rodgers tore his Achilles four plays into the 2023 season. And while he returned in 2024 and started all 17 games, he looked like a shell of his former self for much of the season.

Rodgers was banged up and increasingly immobile, as the Jets' offense sputtered even despite the midseason acquisition of Davante Adams. The locker room fractured, and by season’s end, the Jets had won just five games.

The all-in experiment ended with the entire regime, from head coach Robert Saleh to general manager Joe Douglas, being shown the door. Pittsburgh seems intent on rerunning the same script.

Rodgers is now their quarterback, signed to a one-year, $13.65 million contract with $10 million guaranteed. In the months since, the Steelers have aggressively added win-now pieces in Metcalf, Slay, and most recently, Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith, both acquired from the Dolphins on Monday in exchange for Minkah Fitzpatrick and a pick swap.

It’s clear Pittsburgh believes they’re close — some might say a quarterback away — but from the outside, this all feels eerily familiar. The Jets believed the same thing last year.

Rodgers was supposed to elevate the offense and make the most of a stacked defense. Instead, it became a lesson in the dangers of tying your entire franchise to a 40-year-old quarterback with an increasingly lengthy injury history and an even longer list of demands.

There could be one saving grace in Pittsburgh, however. The Steelers' coaching staff might actually give this version a chance. Mike Tomlin remains one of the most respected coaches in football, and new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has a respectable NFL track record.

Compare that to the Jets’ 2024 setup — a lame-duck Robert Saleh, a disaster pairing of Nathaniel Hackett and Todd Downing calling plays, and an interim head coach in over his head in Jeff Ulbrich — and it’s easy to see how coaching could be the deciding factor.

But the core risk at hand here remains the same. Rodgers is another year older. The roster is full of aging stars. The margin for error is razor-thin. The Jets gambled big and lost even bigger. The Steelers are now trying to win the same bet, just with a new logo on the helmet.

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