Steelers legend Terry Bradshaw rips Aaron Rodgers, team for handling of quarterback position: ‘A failure’

Terry Bradshaw is clearly not happy with how the Pittsburgh Steelers have handled their quarterback situation following Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement. 

Bradshaw, a Hall of Fame quarterback who helped the Steelers win four Super Bowls during the 1970s, shared his feelings on Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation ever since Roethlisberger retired after the 2021 season. Along with addressing the team’s ongoing situation with Aaron Rodgers, Bradshaw was critical of the Steelers’ handling of Kenny Pickett, who was traded out of Pittsburgh less than two years after he was drafted in the first round. 

“I liked Kenny Pickett,” Bradshaw said on 103.7 The Buzz. “I liked him at Pitt. I know him, I know what he’s like. When they got him to Pittsburgh, they didn’t protect him, they didn’t get him an offensive line. They wanted to run the football, but they didn’t have an offensive line that could protect and they didn’t have weapons. He had no wide receivers to speak of. 

“Then they throw a kid in there for two years and you’ve got an offense that doesn’t fit and doesn’t work, and they can’t run because their offensive line’s not even good enough for a run blocking team. Now, they’re saying Kenny Pickett is a failure. He wasn’t a failure, the Steelers were a failure.” 

Bradshaw also didn’t mince words when asked about the Steelers continued pursuit of Rodgers, who remains unsigned as Pittsburgh starts OTAs. 

“That’s a joke. That to me is just a joke,” Bradshaw said. “What are you gonna do? Bring him in for one year, are you kidding me? That guy needs to stay in California. Go somewhere and chew on bark and whisper to the gods out there.” 

While they have continued to churn out winning seasons, the Steelers — as Bradshaw said — have been unsuccessful to this point when it comes to finding a longterm solution at quarterback. To this point, the situation is similar to what Pittsburgh endured following Bradshaw’s retirement after the 1983 season. The Steelers — who famously passed on drafting future Hall of Famer (and Pittsburgh native) Dan Marino in 1984 — didn’t find a worthy successor to Bradshaw until Roethlisberger fell to them with the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. 

Finding a championship-level quarterback is hard, which is something that the Steelers are obviously rediscovering now. No one is questioning that or the team’s desire to find someone who can provide the level of consistent excellence Bradshaw and Roethlisberger previously provided. But while the team’s desire to find their next elite quarterback can’t be questioned, how the Steelers have gone about finding him is certainly open to criticism.