Pittsburgh Steelers legend Jerome Bettis is worried about the franchise’s quarterback situation, which includes Aaron Rodgers, signed to a one-year deal in his final NFL season, Ohio State Buckeyes CFP champion and the team’s 2025 sixth-round draft pick, Will Howard, and the returning Mason Rudolph, but not all of his concerns are with the talent in the room.
When it comes to Rodgers, Bettis sees protection for the 41-year-old, or a lack thereof, being the primary concern.
“ The question is, can they protect them? I don’t think there’s a question about Aaron Rodgers’ talent. I think the question is, can they get his talent to the field? That’s my concern. When you have a guy who’s 41 years old, the offensive line has to be really good. I think if that happens, I think (Pittsburgh’s) got a chance to be really good. They’re in a tough situation in that they’ve got a playoff-caliber defense. They’re paying considerable amounts of money on defense. You’ve gotta give ’em an opportunity with a competent offense. The only available quarterback out there was Aaron Rodgers,” Bettis told me Thursday.
“(Rodgers) would give you that. A capable offense that could go along with a really high-power defense. They were in a, a situation where this was the last option that they had. They understood that. And now the question becomes, can they protect him?
“If they can protect him, then they’ve got a chance to be really good. If they cannot protect him, I think this becomes another scenario where people are shaking their head, saying, ‘What was going on?’”
Bettis referenced Rodgers’ disastrous stint on the New York Jets as what he’d like to see Rodgers avoid in Pittsburgh.
As for what he’d like to see beyond Rodgers’ retirement year, Bettis revealed a lack of confidence in Howard or Rudolph being championship-level signal-callers.
“ I don’t know if you can win a championship with those guys. That’s the question that you have to ask yourself. If history tells you the story, the answer is no. When you look at championships and you look at the quarterbacks who win them, usually they’re guys who have incredible talent that’s at the top of the charts. Not necessarily the fourth, fifth-round guy that is going to lead you to a championship,” Bettis said.
“ Now, it’s happened before, but it’s not the norm. I wouldn’t say that those guys are going to be the guys that you look at going forward, and I think that’s the very reason why Aaron Rodgers is there. Because I don’t know if you have a championship-caliber quarterback reserve.”
Aaron Rodgers ‘understands what the stakes are’ with Steelers
Bettis’s excitement for Rodgers was evident during our discussion.
When I mentioned Rodgers’ recent shoutout of Bettis and other Steelers legends, “The Bus” acknowledged that the Super Bowl XLV MVP understood what it meant to rep the black and yellow.
“ I think he definitely understands where he’s going and what the stakes are. He has an opportunity to add to that. It’s always good to know the history of where you are, where you are going, and where you fit in. When I got to Pittsburgh, that was something that I quickly understood. I knew the Steelers, I knew the history, I knew the big running backs,” Bettis said.
“They loved the running game, and I was conscious of that when I first got there. So I think that’s healthy when a player understands the significance of the organization that he’s going to play for.”
Bettis provided media availability in advance of the 2025 American Century Championship at the Edgewood Tahoe Resort from July 9-13. Bettis will be one of the 91 competitors in Stateline, Nevada, for the annual celebrity golf tournament, which will be broadcast on NBC, Peacock, and the GOLF Channel.
