ESPN and the rest of the sports media world have been busily covering every last transaction and decision made during the NFL off-season. Now that organized team activities (OTA’s) have been completed by each team in the league, fans and analysts look ahead to the start of training camp at the end of July.
But while training camp has yet to begin, NFL analysts from every sports network are hard at work reviewing the pre-season and looking ahead to the 2026 regular season.
Recently, Ed Werder of ESPN released his grades for each team for their transactions this off-season. He gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a C+, and was highly critical of their decision to re-sign quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
ESPN analyst Ed Werder blasts the Pittsburgh Steelers for bring back Aaron Rodgers
Werder’s analysis of Pittsburgh’s off-season was highly critical of their decision to bring Rodgers back. The move, which reunites him with head coach Mike McCarthy, is viewed by Werder as short-sighted and not nearly good enough to get the Steelers back into Super Bowl contention.
He wrote, in part:
“The reason the Steelers are a long shot to contend for the AFC crown in 2026 is their quarterback. They chose to re-sign Rodgers on a one-year, $22.5 million deal. He is one of the all-time greats, but the last time he was even an above-average NFL quarterback was five years ago.
“I understand the impulse to re-sign Rodgers and maintain a higher floor, but there was at least one realistic quarterback option who I felt was clearly superior — Malik Willis, who comes with incredible upside.”
As one can see, Werder believes the Steelers should have pursued Malik Willis in free agency. Willis, of course, ended up signing with the Miami Dolphins, following two key former Green Bay Packers figures (Jon Eric-Sullivan as GM and Jeff Hafley as head coach). Ever since the Hafley was hired in Miami, many believed that was where Willis would go. It is hard to imagine the Steelers would have had much of a shot at landing him.
There were many reasons why Pittsburgh did not advance far last year, but one can hardly say Rodgers was the main culprit. Even at 42 years old last year, the future Pro Football Hall of Famer completed 65.7% of his passes and had a passer rating of 94.8. Those may not be elite, but they’re better than many other NFL starting quarterbacks.
