“They shouldn’t be waiting at all anymore. They should’ve moved on yesterday—or actually before the draft,” former NFL lineman Ross Tucker spewed on his podcast, tossing the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason strategy into a blender of hot takes. Imagine Cersei Lannister sipping wine while whispering, ‘When you play the NFL Thrones, you conquer or you vanquish.’ In the AFC North, the Steelers aren’t just playing for titles—they’re fighting for relevance. And Aaron Rodgers? He’s the wildcard who might’ve already checked out.

Let’s cut through the noise like a Patrick Mahomes no-look pass. The Steelers are sitting on $40.5M in cap space, fresh off a 10-7 season that ended—shocker—with another playoff flop (their sixth straight since 2016). Enter Rodgers: 41, ringless since 2010, and freshly cut by the New York Jets after a rough 2024 (28 TDs, 11 INTs, 90.5 passer rating).

Tucker ain’t buying the hype: “Every team’s making a cost-benefit analysis. For Rodgers, what’s the benefit? Maybe win a playoff game? I doubt it. They’re not beating the Bills, Chiefs, or Ravens.” Translation: Signing Rodgers is like buying a Ferrari with a salvage title—flashy, but the engine’s held together by duct tape and hope of staying relevant.

But here’s the kicker: Rodgers’s “will he, won’t he” act feels more like a Netflix cliffhanger than a QB decision. “If a guy’s waiting this long to decide if he wants to play, he doesn’t really wanna play,” Tucker quipped, echoing every Steelers fan’s group chat. So, will Rodgers join the Steelers, he further added, “For Rodgers, he wants to stay relevant, so he will play for the Steelers. But this doesn’t make any sense either short term or long term, for Pittsburgh in my mind. A-Rod’s legacy? Legendary. His 62,952 career yards and 503 TDs are Canton-bound.

But in Pittsburgh, where six Lombardis gleam like Excalibur, patience is thinner than a rookie’s playbook. As Succession’, Logan Roy would snarl, ‘You’re not serious people.’ And the Steelers? They’re dead serious.

Tomlin’s gambit – The NFC star and the Rodgers standard

Meanwhile, Mike Tomlin—coach of 18 non-losing seasons and owner of a contract extension through 2027—is playing 4D chess. While Rodgers waffles, Tomlin’s eyeing the NFC star as the heir to Ben Roethlisberger’s throne. “There’s no substitute for intimacy,” Tomlin said of his Rodgers meeting, sounding more like a rom-com lead than a gridiron guru. But let’s read the tea leaves: Fields, 25, went 4-2 as a Steelers last year, flashing 1,100+ yards and 10 TDs. Sure, he got benched for Russell Wilson (yikes), but Tomlin’s mantra—“The standard is the standard”—isn’t about band-aids. It’s about building dynasties.

Tomlin’s patience with Rodgers? A smokescreen. The man who once said, “We don’t live in our fears” isn’t about to mortgage the future for a QB who’s one ayahuasca retreat from retirement. Instead, he’s channeling The Wire’s Omar Little: ‘You come at the king, you best not miss.’ Pittsburgh’s king? A young QB who can outrun the Ravens’ blitzes and outthink the Bengals’ schemes. With $40M in cap space, the Steelers could snag a Cooper Kupp or beef up their O-line, or another NFC gem, into the hero Steel City needs.

Rodgers might crave relevance, but Tomlin’s chasing immortality. As the draft picks (Derrick Harmon, Will Howard) simmer on the bench, the message is clear. Pittsburgh’s not a retirement home. It’s a forge. And in the fires of the AFC North, only the strong survive.

Pittsburgh’s QB saga isn’t just Xs and Os—it’s a sonnet written in steel grit and Primanti Bros. grease. Rodgers’s “R-E-L-A-X” vibe clashes with Tomlin’s “no blinking” intensity, while fans clutch their Terrible Towels like sacred scrolls. Will it be a faded star chasing glory, or a new king rising? In the words of poet (and Steelers die-hard) Billy Collins: “You know the parlor is quiet, but the pillars of the porch are shaking.” The foundation’s rumbling, Pittsburgh. Time to build something that lasts.