A few months ago, while the Pittsburgh Steelers were making decisions about their quarterback room, video surfaced of veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers—who was no longer in the New York Jets’ plans—throwing the football to the Black and Gold’s newest wide receiving option. One of the biggest trades of this offseason was Mike Tomlin’s club giving a 2025 second-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for two-time Pro Bowl wideout DK Metcalf.
Rodgers is now officially a member of the Steelers, and the team recently concluded its three-day minicamp. The next time the team will get together is training camp. That doesn’t mean that four-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl XLV champion and the big-play offensive weapon won’t be renewing acquaintances sooner than later.
Rodgers comes off an overall disappointing two-year stay with the Jets. His 2023 season lasted four plays before he went down with an Achilles injury that shelved him for the remainder of the season. The veteran signal-caller got off to a rough start in ’24, throwing for 10 scores while being picked off seven times in his first seven outings. Rodgers finished strong (although the team did not), totaling 18 touchdown passes and only four interceptions in his final 10 appearances with the Green and White.
Now he has the talented Metcalf to throw to. In six seasons in the Pacific Northwest, the 2019 second-round pick from Ole Miss amassed 438 catches for 6,324 yards and 48 scores—earning Pro Bowl invitations in both 2020 and 2023. It’s also worth noting that he appeared in four postseason games for the club when Pete Carroll was head coach, and totaled 26 grabs for 451 yards (17.3 average) and five touchdowns.
Metcalf and Rodgers could be a fascinating watch in the Steel City this season.
