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The Pittsburgh Steelers still don’t have a clear answer at quarterback heading into the 2025 NFL season. That’s mainly because the franchise continues to hold out hope that Aaron Rodgers will make his decision and ultimately sign with the team, something many analysts view as inevitable. However, each passing day tightens the window.
However, a former NFL player recently suggested in an interview that the interest may be one-sided. According to him, Steelers fans aren’t as enthusiastic about Rodgers’s potential arrival, given that his prime is behind him, and his recent string of controversies raises questions about whether his focus is still on football.
Ross Tucker Says Steelers’ Fans Don’t Want Aaron Rodgers
If you had asked any NFL fan four years ago whether they’d take Rodgers as their quarterback, the answer would’ve been a resounding yes. A four-time MVP and Super Bowl champion, Rodgers had just won back-to-back MVPs in 2020 and 2021 and was firmly cemented as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever.
But things have changed. His final season in Green Bay fell short of expectations; he missed the entire 2023 campaign due to injury, and his lone full season with the New York Jets didn’t live up to the hype. While his numbers still show he has something left in the tank, Rodgers’ focus appears to have shifted away from football.
According to former NFL lineman Ross Tucker, Steelers fans don’t want Rodgers under center in 2025. He believes the fanbase would rather endure a losing season with Mason Rudolph than remain stuck in the cycle of short-lived playoff runs, only to be eliminated by a better-prepared team, a pattern that’s plagued Pittsburgh since 2016.
“And there probably is some truth to the consternation regarding the Steelers fanbase. Listen, I live in central Pennsylvania. I know a lot of Steelers fans. Nobody wants him. Nobody wants him, right? Like, the way they look at it is, he’s not that good anymore,” Tucker said.
The biggest concern among Steelers fans is that Rodgers might lead the team to another 10-win season — good enough for the playoffs, but not nearly enough to compete for a Super Bowl. Rodgers feels like a shell of his former self in a conference stacked with elite quarterbacks. Many believe it’s time for Pittsburgh to sacrifice short-term consistency in favor of a complete rebuild that sets the franchise up for long-term success.
In 2024, the Russell Wilson and Justin Fields experiment worked, until it didn’t. The Steelers were 10-3 heading into the final stretch, only to lose their last four games and fall to the Ravens in the Wild Card round. It was yet another frustrating ending in a cycle the team can’t seem to escape.
Rodgers doesn’t appear to be the guy who can break that pattern. Even if he were to win a playoff game, fans worry a championship run is still out of reach, and that all he’d do is delay the inevitable reset the team will eventually have to make.
“We’re still not going to beat the Bills or the Chiefs or the Ravens or insert team here in the playoffs,” Tucker added, “So, what’s the point? To maybe win 9 or 10 games again? And maybe have a first-round exit again? Steelers fans are kind of losing their patience with that.”
According to PFSN’s projections, the Steelers would sign Rodgers for 2025 in a final attempt to chase a Super Bowl with this current core, squeezing out whatever is left of his Hall of Fame career. If the quarterback does join, fans must put on the jersey of hope one more time before finally embracing the long-awaited rebuild.
