Pittsburgh

Steelers

Rooney was reiterating a point he made in April, when he said the team was willing to wait on Rodgers to make a decision, but not forever. The enigmatic quarterback has been silent for most of the offseason, leaving teams hanging on whether he will play football at all this year. Pittsburgh has gone all in on Rodgers, only bringing in Mason Rudolph and sixth-round rookie Will Howard to replace their tandem of Justin Fields and Russell Wilson from last year. It’s clear that Rooney’s patience is wearing thin, but there’s not much he can do at this point outside of rolling with Rudolph. If Rodgers wants to be a Steeler, the team is going to welcome him with open arms, even if he continues to slow-play them.

Though technically listed as a defensive tackle, Harmon will ultimately play the 3-4 defensive end role in the Steelers’ defensive front. The 6'5/313 defender is a versatile three-down player who registered 22 tackles, six TFLs, 49 quarterback pressures and four sacks in regular season play last year. He profiles as a long-time Pittsburgh Steeler.

With just nine offensive snaps to his name through two NFL seasons, Broeker will likely be competing for a roster spot this summer. He earned a 62.4 PFF special teams grade last year, logging 42 special teams snaps, 40 of which as a member of the field goal and extra point blocking unit. The Steelers waived C Lecitus Smith in a corresponding move.

“Personal issues” pertaining to Rodgers and members of his inner circle have been cited as one of the primary reasons the 41-year-old quarterback has yet to sign with the Steelers. O’Connor says he has a “pretty good sense” of what those issues were before adding “I don’t think it’s something that would prevent him from playing football.” The Steelers’ underwhelming quarterback room remains one of the more clearcut signs that the door is open for Rodgers and he can come walking through when ready. Rodgers threw for 3,897-28-11 last season with the Jets and would be joining a team with a thin receiver room behind D.K. Metcalf. That said, he’d likely be tasked with playing more of a high-level game manager role with the Steelers in 2025, as Arthur Smith proved once again last season that his team will lean heavily on the run after boasting a league-high 51 percent rush rate in neutral scripts last season.

According to Farabaugh, one source described the Steelers’ inquiry as “a due diligence call” while adding that a trade “doesn’t seem likely to happen” at this time. The Steelers trade George Pickens to the Cowboys just over a week ago, and are now looking at DK Metcalf, Roman Wilson, and Calvin Austin as their top options in three receiver sets. Of those three, Metcalf is the only receiver with notable NFL success, while Wilson effectively redshirted his rookie season due to injuries. Olave caught 32 passes for 400 yards and one touchdown for the Saints last season, but missed nine games due to multiple concussions he suffered. The four-year receiver posted back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons during his first two years in the league, and would provide an immediate upgrade to an underwhelming Steelers receiving corps. Farabaugh reports that in addition to a trade being unlikely, that the Saints do “not seem interested in trading Olave” at this time. The Saints picked up Olave’s fifth-year option last month, and will likely look to extend him in the not too distant future.

Johnson, a third-round draft pick who last month was listed as a co-starter alongside Jaylen Warren on the Pittsburgh depth chart, was a hyper-productive back in Iowa’s zone-based rushing scheme, a system used frequently in Arthur Smith’s run-first offense. Only three college running backs in 2024 logged more zone rushes than Johnson. Johnson’s goals in offseason practices, according to DeFabo, “are to learn the playbook and earn the coaching staff’s trust with the hope of becoming an ‘every-down back’ sooner rather than later.” That might require Johnson to improve his pass blocking. The rookie said he’s worked on that with Warren — one of the best blocking backs in the NFL — in recent days.

They will be the first team to play back-to-back weeks in different countries outside the United States. The Vikings will face off against the Steelers in the first-ever NFL regular season game in Dublin on Stepember 28, then play the Browns in London the following weekend. It could be a tough travel schedule for the Vikings, though the Jaguars have played back-to-back international games in recent years. Those games were in the same country, however. The Vikings-Steelers game could be intriguing if Aaron Rodgers is under center for Pittsburgh after trying and failing to generate interest for his services in Minnesota this offseason.

NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo was the first to report the news. Kazee stays in the AFC North on what is presumably a one-year contract. The eight-year vet spent the last three seasons with the Steelers, appearing in 38 games while making 14 starts. Kazee tallied five interceptions and seven pass breakups during his time with the Steelers while playing in what was primarily a backup role, and will likely serve as added depth for the Browns this season.

FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz was the first to report the deal. The former third-round pick worked out with the Steelers on a tryout basis during the team’s rookie minicamp and will now have a chance to earn a spot on the 53-man roster this summer. Sermon ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 56 carries last season while averaging an underwhelming 2.8 YPC. Sermon will face an uphill battle to make the Steelers’ roster with Cordarrelle Patterson and free agent signee Kenneth Gainwell presumably set to serve as the RB3 and RB4 behind Kaleb Johnson and Jaylen Warren.

Johnson averaged 7.0 yards per rushing attempt on outside zone runs last season, making him a perfect fit for an offense run by OC Arthur Smith. Smith’s 2024 unit tied for the fifth-most outside zone plays (176) in 2024. Johnson is already listed as the team’s co-starter, which should give him access to a fantasy-friendly workload right off the bat.