PITTSBURGH — Aaron Rodgers is no longer holding the Steelers hostage, embarrassing them, making them look foolish and whatever other nonsensical thing was said about him since this saga began a few months ago.

He is a Steeler, he will be the starting quarterback, and hopefully now we can all get back to our regularly scheduled programming and figure out what it actually means for the 2025 season.

Yes, it took longer than it should have, and yes, there are some real reasons to be skeptical that it will work out. But the idea that Rodgers did anything wrong in this is silly. Every aging player who is getting to the end of his career should take some time to really consider if they want to continue to put his body through what it takes to play in the NFL.

Rodgers was thoughtful and took a little time, and that’s mostly because he wanted to make sure he was all in and ready to commit fully to being the best quarterback he can be and help the Steelers win as many games as possible.

Does he have anything left?

I have no idea, but from where I sit, he is the best option the Steelers have. And the reason for that is they weren’t as proactive as they needed to be in creating some sort of legitimate second option. Maybe Mason Rudolph is legitimate, but I think we have seen that show before and while there is probably a reasonable floor for what the Steelers would look like with him as the starter, there was also a very definitive ceiling.

Rudolph probably has a higher floor than Rodgers; I mean, if Rodgers can’t play any more, it will be a disaster. But Rodgers represents the best chance for the Steelers to breakthrough their recent ceiling of nine or 10 wins and a first-round loss.

Rodgers did finish the 2024 season by throwing for 18 touchdowns and four interceptions in his last 10 games with the Jets. It was clear earlier in the year he wasn’t fully healed from his Achilles tear, but as he got healthier, he played better.

It is entirely possible that Rodgers — with another whole offseason to heal, rest and clear his mind — might be able to play at a high level for another season and if he does, that’s the kind of gamble that could pay off in a big way for the Steelers. That is why the Steelers took the gamble, too, as it seemed like the risk/reward was far more in their favor than not.

Rodgers might stink. He might be cooked. He might not be able to play at a decent level. And if that happens, well, then the Steelers might just get that elusive top-10 draft pick that enables them to finally draft their quarterback of the future.

That would be a lose-win situation, and either way the Steelers will have placated the people who want them to play for the playoffs every year and the people who want them to tank to get a high draft choice. That would be an incredible development, so that’s why Rodgers makes sense — at best he represents a chance to contend in the AFC, at worst he represents a chance for them to draft their next franchise quarterback.

And let’s say he is somewhere in between. Nothing has been lost. He will be a one-year bridge quarterback that the Steelers signed without giving anything away that led them to another middling season without a playoff win. That would be the likely outcome if Rudolph were the quarterback, and so at that point it would be a wash.

Those that seem to be mad at Rodgers for “holding the Steelers hostage” have a lot of misplaced anger. If they want to be mad at someone, they should be mad at the Steelers for letting the situation go on as long as it did.

Better yet, they should be mad at the Steelers for basically making it very clear that the only quarterback they were interested in was Rodgers, and they were willing to wait in order to get him. The Steelers could have signed a lot of other quarterbacks, could have traded for a couple of quarterbacks, and could have even signed one of the two guys they had on the team last year.

They didn’t do any of that, and as far as I can tell, they didn’t even negotiate with anyone else. They had some preliminary talks with Justin Fields but nothing serious, and it was very clear they were at best lukewarm toward him.

They made it very clear they were focused on Rodgers from the start of the offseason, and Rodgers made it very clear to them he was going to take his time. The funny thing is the only people who seemed bent out of shape because Rodgers was taking his time were all external — fans, media types, national pundits, etc. Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan all seemed to be more than comfortable waiting.

As I wrote at the start of it all, there is no way that the Steelers would be waiting if they weren’t extremely sure that the payoff at the end of the road would be Rodgers actually signing a deal. And whether you like Rodgers, hate Rodgers or are indifferent to Rodgers, the fact remains that he is, at this point, the Steelers’ best option for the 2025 season. So as a fan, you should be happy the deal got done.

I don’t know if it is going to work, but at this point, I completely understand what the Steelers were thinking and am willing have an open mind and sit back and watch it all play out.

©2025 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.