May 28 (UPI) — Football legend Terry Bradshaw says he thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers’ interest in Aaron Rodgers is “a joke,” and that the veteran quarterback should stay away from his former team.
Bradshaw made the comments during a radio interview Tuesday on 103.7 The Buzz in Arkansas. The Steelers were one of several NFL teams interested in Rodgers since the start of the off-season.
The veteran quarterback remains a free agent as other players around the league start to report to organized team activities.
“That’s a joke,” Bradshaw said of the Steelers’ interest in Rodgers. “That to me is just a joke. What are you going to 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.”
The New York Jets, who traded for Rodgers in 2023 and gave him a 3-year, $112.5 million contract, released the veteran quarterback in March.
Rodgers, who was a four-time MVP, 10-time Pro Bowl selection, four-time first-team All-Pro and a Super Bowl champion over his 18-year tenure with the Green Bay Packers, went 6-12 over two seasons as a starter for the Jets. He appeared in just 18 of a potential 34 games due to a season-ending Achilles tear he sustained in Week 1 of the 2023 campaign.
Last season, Rodgers completed 63% of his throws for 3,897 yards, 28 scores and 11 interceptions. His 23 interceptions over his last two full seasons (2022 and 2024) eclipse the combined total (21) he threw over five seasons from 2017 through 2021.
Mason Rudolph, Will Howard and Skylar Thompson are the quarterbacks currently on the Steelers’ roster. Steelers players reported Tuesday for their first day of organized team activity off-season workouts.
Mandatory minicamp will be held June 10 and 11.
Bradshaw, who spent his entire 14-year career with the Steelers, also blasted his former franchise for their handling of Kenny Pickett. The No. 20 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft completed 62.6% of his throws for 4,474 yards, 13 scores and 13 interceptions and went 14-10 as a starter over his first two seasons with the Steelers.
The Steelers traded Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles last off-season. He was traded to the Cleveland Browns in March. Bradshaw, the 1976 NFL MVP who led the Steelers to four Super Bowl titles, blamed the franchise for not investing in protection and pass-catching targets for Pickett.
“When they got him to Pittsburgh, here’s what they didn’t do: they didn’t protect him, they didn’t get him an offensive line,” Bradshaw said of Pickett. “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 you 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. Therefore they say Kenny Pickett is a failure.
“He wasn’t a failure, the Steelers were a failure.”
Rodgers visited the Steelers on March 21. He participated in a private throwing session that same month with Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf. Rudolph is in line to be the Steelers’ starter if Rodgers doesn’t join the roster, but Bradshaw said he heard that the 41-year-old quarterback is expected to eventually sign in Pittsburgh.
