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Pittsburgh Steelers running back quarterback Aaron Rodgers officially re-signed the 21-year veteran on Monday morning for a second season in Pittsburgh. The move also revives a familiar partnership with coach Mike McCarthy, marking their first reunion since 2018.
On FOX Sports’ “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd, FOX Sports analyst Geoff Schwartz joined the show to discuss Rodgers’ reunion with McCarthy. Cowherd questioned McCarthy’s support for the move, suggesting he would prefer to roll with the team’s young quarterbacks.
“I think [Mike] McCarthy is publicly taking a bullet because he’d rather be with the kids,” Cowherd said. But he got the job, and part of the deal is that we don’t have to be ugly when we bring Aaron. [Rodgers] back.”
Schwartz pointed to the previous tension between Rodgers and McCarthy in Green Bay, where their working relationship ended with McCarthy’s firing in 2018 amid reported friction. He questioned how the reunion in Pittsburgh would work given that history.
“Remember, Aaron Rodgers and McCarthy didn’t end well, like he got him fired,” Schwartz said. “Now they’re going to be best friends again at work? They’re professionals, but again, I don’t know if you’re a Steelers fan, how you’re looking forward to the season.”
Not only have the Steelers struggled to find a long-term answer at quarterback, but playoff success has also become a concern. The team has largely settled into 8-9 win streaks in recent seasons, reflecting mediocrity.
Pittsburgh’s last postseason win came in 2017 when it defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round.
“You know exactly how it’s going to go,” Schwartz said. “They haven’t won a playoff game in nine years, but you kind of knew how the last nine were going to go, but it doesn’t feel like there’s any hope.”
Schwartz questioned whether Pittsburgh’s commitment to staying competitive in the short term prevents a necessary reset with an aging roster.
“I think if you asked McCarthy, ‘hey, let’s kind of get rid of the old guys, let’s go young this year and next year we’ll hit it hard,’ I think he’d rather take it,” Schwartz said. “But the pride, the organization, at some point you’d have to say for a year or two we’re going to be bad.”
The Steelers have never quite hit the reset button or entered a traditional rebuild, but Schwartz has pointed to examples where that approach has worked elsewhere.
“There are certainly examples of it working,” Schwartz said. “The Patriots got Drake Maye, like it works if you do it right. It works if you do it right and Pittsburgh refuses to do it right.”
