Terry Bradshaw isn’t the only Hall of Fame quarterback wondering about Aaron Rodgers‘ fit with the Pittsburgh Steelers. While acknowledging the obvious talent level, former Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino says the four-time NFL MVP needs to be in the right head space for all parties to be successful during the 2025 season.
Rodgers spent the last two seasons with the New York Jets with subpar results before coming to terms with the AFC North franchise.
“I still think Aaron has some game,” Marino said this week on 93.7 The Fan. “He can throw it as good as anybody that has ever thrown the football. If his mind’s into it and he’s ready to go and that works. I don’t think it would be an issue with the Steelers.
“But you gotta have someone that really wants to play there, and he’s getting older,” Marino continued. “So I don’t know what his mindset is. But he does still have talent.”
How much does Rodgers want to play in Pittsburgh? It’s difficult to quantify. After months of saying salary didn’t matter ahead of the new campaign, the free agent signal-caller had a few options — including retirement — before deciding to don the black and yellow for one of the league’s storied franchises.
The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season, much of that do to struggling to find a difference-maker at the position since Ben Roethlisberger‘s retirement a couple years ago. The two-time Super Bowl champion played 18 seasons in Pittsburgh but was largely ineffective since the Steelers’ last postseason win; so, too, were the signal-callers who came after him.
Rodgers, who played only four snaps in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury, went 5-12 last fall with the Jets leading into free agency. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was one of the leading voices in Pittsburgh’s pursuit of Rodgers, according to ESPN.
To Marino’s point, when Rodgers is on, his arm talent and accuracy is up there with the NFL’s best. He’s expected to join the Steelers next week in time for mandatory minicamp and then will have six additional weeks of time with his new teammates to form relationships prior to training camp starting in July.
Rodgers is the new headliner in a Steelers quarterback room that includes offseason signees Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson and 2025 NFL Draft sixth-round pick Will Howard. Rodgers earned 10 trips to the Pro Bowl trips in Green Bay, is a decorated four-time All-Pro, and earned a spot on the NFL’s All-Decade Team in the 2010s.
Reaction is mixed around the NFL on Pittsburgh’s signing, but most attest that the Steelers are better off with Rodgers than without.
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Author: Brad Crawford
June 7, 2025 | 3:20 pm
