Steelers’ stability hinges on … Aaron Rodgers? Plus Pope Leo’s MLB fandom

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Good morning! Be decisive today.

Exceptionalism Meets Irony: A quarterback purgatory like few others

Since Ben Roethlisberger’s decline and retirement after 2021, the Steelers have been long-term tenants in quarterback purgatory. But recently the six-time Super Bowl champs have walked themselves into a situation that goes far beyond merely having a decent-but-not-great passer. The Steelers seem to be preparing for a season with a quarterback who isn’t even their quarterback. 

Pittsburgh continues to wait on Aaron Rodgers, the “Pat McAfee Show” personality who played QB for the Jets for the last two years and will turn 42 in December. The latest is that there is no latest, with Rodgers laying out no timeline and Mike Tomlin insisting that it’s no rush: “You’d like to have settled circumstances. But, you know, deadlines don’t often bring that to a head.” 🤔

That was Tomlin’s view over a month ago, and if it’s changed, Pittsburgh hasn’t acted like it. Since then, “The Athletic Football Show” praised the Steelers for not letting QB desperation goad them into reaching in the draft. Indeed, nobody needed a redux of 2022’s first-round selection of Kenny Pickett.

Still, why are Tomlin and GM Omar Khan content to wait? Well, the depth chart looks roughly like this, about 75 days before camp:

• Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh’s third-string QB two years ago, who returned in free agency after helping the Titans be bad enough in 2024 to draft Cam Ward at No. 1.
• Skylar Thompson, a journeyman backup heading into his fourth NFL season.
• Will Howard, the sixth-round rookie out of Ohio State (via Kansas State, where Thompson also played his college ball, coincidentally).

That’s a whole QB room with a little more than 5,000 total NFL passing yards.

Lots of teams handled their QB situations aggressively this offseason. For one example, the Jets guaranteed $30 million to Justin Fields — who started six games for Pittsburgh last year before the Steelers benched him and seemingly wrecked their relationship so that they could give a declining Russell Wilson a try. Wilson is now a Giant, and he’d also be an improvement on the current status quo in Pittsburgh.

Most Steelers fans have given up on what I call Steelers exceptionalism, that belief that there is something special about the way the franchise has long operated. Zero playoff wins since 2016 will bust a myth. But the Steelers are a model of stability, even if that stability is stalling in January, as Mike Sando made clear after the latest playoff flop.

I asked Sando, who’s been reporting on the NFL since the ‘90s: Did he ever think that things would get this amateur for an organization that thinks better of itself? Isn’t this something that he would expect to be happening to, perhaps, the Jaguars?

💬 It’s only bizarrely unsettled if the Steelers do not have an understanding with Rodgers. If they don’t get Rodgers, the Steelers could compete for space on the list of worst QB situations. (Consider the 2001 Cowboys with Quincy Carter, Anthony Wright, Ryan Leaf and Clint Stoerner!)

But they have to have an understanding, right? Right?!

This is in some ways standard operating procedure for the Steelers. They have a long history, before and after Roethlisberger, of having decent records in the absence of a top QB (Mike Tomczak, Neil O’Donnell, Kordell Stewart, Tommy Maddox, etc.). They settled for Wilson and Fields only last season, when neither was in high demand.

In short, the Steelers operate with the urgency of a team that has stacked 21 consecutive non-losing seasons.

Also, Pittsburgh traded the brilliant but frustrating George Pickens to the Cowboys on Wednesday. The value seems fine, but Rodgers is now the difference between the unthinkable Tomlin losing season and maybe pulling a 9-8 with a wild-card loss by three touchdowns.

Exceptionalism, meet existentialism.

News to Know

Cavs, Panthers punch back

Teams that fall behind 0-2 in an NBA or NHL playoff series go on to lose the series about nine out of 10 times. A tough hill to climb, but not an insurmountable one. Going down 0-3, however, is more or less a death sentence. Both the Cavs and Panthers avoided that trench:

• Another 40-point game from Donovan Mitchell kept Cleveland’s season afloat. Tyrese Haliburton struggled mightily, and Indiana couldn’t seem to figure out the zone. A gutsy win for the Cavaliers.
• It doesn’t matter what jersey Brad Marchand is wearing; he will never stop tormenting the Leafs. In a must-win for the Panthers, Marchand slotted in an OT winner to complete a 3-1 comeback. More takeaways here.

Elsewhere across last night’s playoff action, the Jets blitzed the Stars to even the series at one apiece. Conner Hellebuyck appears to finally be back. But the most surprising result of the night? That would be in Denver, where the Nuggets took a 2-1 lead over the Thunder:

• For Denver, Aaron Gordon – who shot 29 percent (!) from 3 a season ago and has miraculously turned himself into a 44 percent shooter from distance – hit another clutch 3 to tie this one with 27 seconds to play. Gordon has been one of the best stories of these playoffs.
• Nikola Jokić was ice cold. 8-of-25 from the field and 0-of-10 from 3. Last night was about the others for Denver.
• The Nuggets dominated in overtime. You can’t replace championship experience.

The title favorites are officially on upset watch. Onward:

Mystery solved

When it was revealed that Pope Leo XIV hails from Chicago, one burning question came to sports fans’ minds: Cubs or Sox? Many initially claimed the new pope was a Cubs fan, including the team itself. Now the mystery is solved. Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan (and a big supporter of alma mater Villanova’s hoops). Here he is, spotted on a 2005 World Series broadcast. The internet remains undefeated.

More news:

What to Watch

📺 NBA: Celtics at Knicks, Game 3

3:30 p.m. ET on ABC

Madison Square Garden might as well be a total mob scene today. The Knicks remained at large after robbing the Celtics blind at the end of Game 1, and then they did it again in Game 2, closing on a 23-6 run to win by a point. After blowing a pair of 20-point leads and taking two shell-shock losses to start the series, the defending champs are in danger of being routed. Some good reading: James L. Edwards III on Mikal Bridges’ mastery of adversity.

📺 NHL: Capitals at Hurricanes, Game 3 

6 p.m. ET on TNT 

The Hurricanes stole home-ice advantage by winning Game 1 in D.C., and the Caps responded nicely to even things on Thursday. I say “the Caps” responded, but mostly I’m talking about goalie Logan Thompson, who stood on his head in a 3-1 win. If Thompson can give Washington two or three more nights like that, the Capitals will be all good. More on where things stand.

Pulse Picks

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(Top photo: Joe Sargent / Getty Images)

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