Arthur Smith’s Big Aaron Rodgers Problem Explored as Steelers Legend Expects QB to Retire

Say what you will, but Aaron Rodgers’ latest Steelers adventure has everyone hooked. Ever since the quarterback signed a one-year, $13.65 million deal to play for Mike Tomlin, conversations have been rife—sometimes about Rodgers supposedly being a “third choice”, and sometimes about how the 41-year-old should’ve retired instead. But, amid all these collaterals, some also wonder: What now? Well, that’s a question we cannot answer without taking a little trip down memory lane.

After an underwhelming 2024 season where a 10-7 record didn’t fully justify Russell Wilson’s struggles, considering the team failed to score greater than 17 points during their five-game losing streak to end the season (a first since Chuck Noll in 1969), a controversial backstory surfaced soon after: The deteriorating relationship inside the locker room. Or more specifically, between the quarterback and his offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith. “Smith did not want Wilson changing plays at the line of scrimmage, like he did in Cincinnati, and deviating from the game plan,” Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac reported back in February. But that’s not all.

Wilson’s off-script playstyle, once a highlight of his Seattle Seahawks career, was the exact thing that ultimately led to the complete collapse of the Denver Broncos, too—11-19 and zero playoff appearances over two seasons with Wilson as the starter. As Shannon Sharpe put it back in 2022, “He was very good at improvisation…at getting off-script. Russell has lost athleticism [now].” No wonder Smith was wary letting the signal caller run the show. While Smith refuted the rumors by calling them a “fantastical narrative”, the gridiron doesn’t lie, and neither does a split after just one season. Now with Rodgers in the mix, who comes from the same breed of QBs who don’t mind a little improvisation, would that knack for freedom be a big problem for the second time in a row?

Per Dan Graziano on ESPN‘s Get Up show on June 12, “They didn’t want Russell Wilson to go off script because that caused problems for Russell Wilson and his team, the two years he was in Denver [and in] the latter part of his year in Seattle. So they wanted to make sure that he stayed on script. I don’t think that Arthur Smith’s going to require that of Aaron Rogers as much as he did [with] Wilson.”

Notably, Graziano’s interpretation was based on what Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger had said two days prior, on the Rodgers-Smith dynamic and the QB freedom. “There’s no way you can tell Aaron Rodgers, ‘You can’t check at the line of scrimmage’. And I’m sure they won’t. I was told that they told Russ he couldn’t…But I can’t imagine that [Smith] is going to be like, ‘Hey Aaron you run what I call every time,” the retired NFL veteran opined. So far, so good, right? Something to remember is after years of running the show in Green Bay and then in the New York Jets, Rodgers isn’t the type to blindly follow a script. And as the panel pointed out, Pittsburgh’s eight-year playoff drought won’t end unless these two find middle ground fast. A problem, or not a problem? You decide.

Having said that, Roethlisberger is already speculating this could be Rodgers’s final season. Hence, one thing’s clear: this partnership will either be the Steelers‘ revival. Or their messiest divorce. 

Ben Roethlisberger sees the writing on the wall

Big Ben knows what it’s like to stare down the end. So when the Steelers legend says Aaron Rodgers’s one-year deal in Pittsburgh might be his last deal, it’s worth listening to. The two-time Super Bowl winner didn’t mince words on his Footbahlin podcast: “I don’t think he’s got much more after this year.” And he’s speaking from brutal experience.

Roethlisberger remembers battling back from his own career-altering injury, that shredded elbow in 2019. He thought he’d fully healed, only to discover the hard truth a year later. “You don’t realize you’re not 100 until the next year, when you are 100,” he explained. He indeed drew a direct comparison to Rodgers’s own comeback from that torn Achilles.

But the concern goes deeper than physical recovery. At 41, with $10 million guaranteed and a roster that could either surprise in the playoffs or become a ticking clock, Rodgers clearly didn’t sign up for a rebuild. The man came to Pittsburgh for one final shot at glory. And Roethlisberger’s hunch? “This might be his last go.” Whether that ends with a Lombardi Trophy or a quiet exit might depend on how much gas is left in the tank. And how much patience Rodgers has for Arthur Smith’s playbook. 

So here’s where we are: Aaron Rodgers takes his shot in Pittsburgh, while Ben Roethlisberger starts counting down the clock. And Arthur Smith’s offense might be the shortest honeymoon in Steelers history. Nobody knows how this ends—maybe with confetti, maybe with Rodgers walking away shaking his head, maybe somewhere in between. But after only stacking winning seasons and no Super Bowl rings in a long time, one thing’s certain: The Steelers’ season won’t be boring.