Now that Aaron Rodgers has officially signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, fans and analysts alike are mulling what to expect from the 41-year-old. Even though most are tempering their expectations as Rodgers prepares for the 21st season of his professional career, he has earned the right to be held to somewhat respectable standards.
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That respect is possibly what led Stephen A. Smith to say that if the four-time MVP were to somehow be outplayed by the likes of the Cleveland Brown’s rookie sensation, Shedeur Sanders, that would be an infuriatingly bad look. In one of the videos posted on his YouTube channel, ESPN’s star analyst admitted that the news of Rodgers joining made him “ecstatic” as he is a “lifelong Steelers fan“.
Of course, as with everything involving the inflammatory talk-show host, Smith’s excitement came with a caveat. “Let me be very clear. I’m ecstatic because you ain’t have no damn quarterback,” said Smith, before elaborating.
“I know Aaron Rodgers wasn’t great last year. I know Aaron Rodgers hasn’t been great the last several years. But here’s the bottom line: This is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. On his worst day, he’s better than an average quarterback,” added Smith.
While he admitted that the Steelers “desperately needed” Rodgers, Smith felt that the veteran is still likely to be an improvement over the group of signal callers that the team had in the past seasons.
“Even with what they had in the locker room, they still had Russell Wilson and Justin Fields last year, he could be an upgrade from both of those dudes. Which means Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback the Pittsburgh Steelers [have] had in the last several years,” said Smith.
But then, Smith also warned that Rodgers’ profile as a player is as volatile as it gets. Given the implied risk that comes with Rodgers’ age and dwindling stat sheets, Smith went as far as to suggest that, while he’s excited for now, the thought of the veteran QB getting outplayed by the likes of Shedeur Sanders in a divisional matchup would be bad for his blood pressure.
In light of the positive reports involving the former Colorado star that are steadily flowing out of Cleveland’s camp right now, Smith suggested that Rodgers could be facing off against the second-generation rookie before making his exit from the league. Even worse for Smith, however, is the thought of Sanders potentially outplaying Rodgers.
“If that damn Shedeur Sanders, who dropped to the fifth round and the 144th overall pick, ends up being better this season, assuming he’s going to get the QB1 spot… If Shedeur Sanders wins this job, and he’s the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, and he goes out there and balls, I am going to be pissed,” said SAS.
Smith ended his take by stating he is still very much of the opinion that NFL owners colluded against Sanders ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. He insisted that Mike Tomlin and the coaching staff would have been thrilled to select Sanders at an early point in the draft.
Nevertheless, Smith will now have to worry about the quarterback who was once touted as being the second-best prospect of his class sitting opposite his Steelers at least twice a season for the foreseeable future.
Then again, considering every franchise had an opportunity to pass on him in the draft on numerous occasions, a breakout campaign in Sanders’ rookie year would likely cause a bit of heartbreak for football fans across the nation.
