Steelers officially make the same desperate Aaron Rodgers mistake as the NY Jets

At long last, Aaron Rodgers has made his decision. The former New York Jets quarterback is on his way to Pittsburgh, reportedly agreeing to sign with the team before next week's minicamp, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Rodgers had reportedly been weighing his options, with teams like the New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, and even the Seattle Seahawks showing interest. In the end, the decision came down to the Steelers or retirement, but for Rodgers, it should have been an easy choice.

The Steelers provide Rodgers with a ready-made contender to potentially finish his career. This is a franchise that has gone 21 straight seasons without a losing record and boasts one of the best head coaches in modern NFL history.

It's easy to see why Rodgers chose the Steelers over a team even more desperate in the Giants, especially since he intends to play for a Super Bowl contender. The bigger question, however, is why Pittsburgh believes this time will be any different for them.

The Steelers might have just made the same Rodgers mistake the Jets made two years ago.

Steelers are foolishly copying the NY Jets' Aaron Rodgers blueprint

The Jets' organization was desperate for a quarterback entering the 2023 offseason. Former general manager Joe Douglas had just watched Zach Wilson put together two of the worst seasons by a starting quarterback in recent NFL memory and knew he needed to upgrade to save his job.

Enter one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history.

The Rodgers experiment made plenty of sense at the time. The Jets believed they had a roster capable of contending with competent quarterback play. They also trusted that Rodgers, just two years removed from back-to-back MVP seasons, still had plenty left in the tank.

Maybe he did. But we'll never know, as Rodgers tore his Achilles just four plays into his first season. By the time he returned in 2024, the Jets' roster had regressed, and Rodgers looked like a shell of his former self.

It's been four years since we've seen Rodgers play at a high level. He hasn't had a healthy season since 2021 and is coming off the worst year of his career. Despite this, the Steelers went full-court press to convince him to come to Pittsburgh.

It's unlikely the Steelers will make the same concessions the Jets made — Rodgers simply doesn't have that pull at this stage of his career. Nathaniel Hackett won't be named offensive coordinator. Randall Cobb isn't coming out of retirement to be the team's WR3.

But the point still stands that the Steelers were so desperate for a quarterback in this barren market that they went all-in on a 42-year-old, post-Achilles tear version of Rodgers that no longer resembles his Hall of Fame self.

Will the wager prove successful? That remains to be seen. If anyone can drag the corpse of this iteration of Rodgers to the postseason, it would be Tomlin and the Steelers. Heck, Tomlin nearly coached a Devlin Hodges-led team to the playoffs a few years ago.

Maybe Rodgers and the Steelers will prove everyone wrong and turn back the clock to 2021. Or maybe their desperation will crash and burn just like it did with the Jets. Either way, Pittsburgh is taking a gamble that history suggests won’t end well.

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