Colin Cowherd Defends Aaron Rodgers’ Push for Bigger Steelers Deal

Colin Cowherd Defends Aaron Rodgers’ Push for Bigger Steelers Deal

Aaron Rodgers, Colin Cowherd (Images via talkSport/Front Office Sports)

In Short
  • Colin Cowherd defends Aaron Rodgers' request for a higher contract from the Steelers, arguing he deserves more than his previous deal.
  • Rodgers has been absent from team meetings and minicamp while seeking a contract around $30 million after his one-year deal expired.
  • Analysts criticize the Steelers for complacency and suggest they should consider younger quarterbacks instead of re-signing Rodgers.

The Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd has often been a highly vocal critic of Aaron Rodgers, so it came as a surprise when he came to his defense. The 62-year-old sports media personality recently defended that the quarterback was right to ask for a better deal from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Rodgers was all the buzz last week as reports emerged that the 42-year-old has been physically absent from the team meetings at the facility as well as the rookie minicamp. Reportedly, Rodgers has requested a higher deal as his current contract expired after one year. Last year, after a dramatically long and drawn-out courting, Rodgers had signed a one-year, $13.65 million contract with $10 million guaranteed.

In case if he’s placed on a UFA tag, he’s bound to earn $15 million this season. As from early speculations, the quarterback was allegedly expecting a ballpark amount of $30 million this season.

Cowherd thought Rodgers was signed for a lower deal than what he deserved last season. He highlighted that despite his increasing age and declining form, Rodgers has four NFL MVPs to his name, as well as a Super Bowl. Cowherd’s defining argument was that Steelers can’t expect a quarterback with a stellar resume to stick to something in the neighborhood of “a freebie” deal.

You can’t ask a Hall of Fame quarterback, in back-to-back years, to give you two freebies. Last year was sorta like that Costco free sample year. Aaron gave you some Costco free samples. And now Aaron’s saying, ‘OK, this year, I need you to buy in bulk. No freebie.’ I mean, he had a better year than Baker Mayfield and made about 35% of what Baker Mayfield did.

Cowherd said on a Thursday episode of ‘The Herd’

In addition to defending Rodgers, Cowherd also berated the Steelers management for their lack of long-term vision for a quarterback. In the past five seasons, Pittsburgh has seen five different starters in Week 1; Ben Roethlisberger (2021), Mitch Trubisky (2022), Kenny Pickett (2023), Justin Fields (2024), and Rodgers. In 2022, Trubisky went 2-3 before handing the reins to Pickett, and 2024 season saw Fields being replaced by Russell Wilson in the dead middle of the season.

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Zach Gelb calls Steelers complacent and questions their motivations

Zach Gelb, a sports talk radio personality, has said what every Pittsburgh Steelers fan wants to say. The Steelers have gotten too comfortable with winning seasons every other and now they don’t want to do what it takes to build a Super Bowl contender.

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Drew Allar from Penn State in the third round as the 79th overall pick (Image via Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Drew Allar from Penn State in the third round as the 79th overall pick (Image via Getty Images)

Gelb accused the Steelers of complacency and suggested an absence of a winning mentality.

The Steelers are no longer in the business for wanting excellence. They’ve become a complacent organization. That’s what the Steelers have become… They’re fine with just winning their nine, 10, 11 games each and every year and not making the postseason.

Gelb said via 365 Sports

Gelb also suggested that the Steelers should not bring back Aaron Rodgers for another season. He argued that the team has a better shot by giving the reins to the second-year Will Howard or rookie Drew Allar. The analyst added that even in a case that doesn’t work out, they have a better shot of getting a high draft pick, which they can use to draft a better quarterback.

There might be some relief for the Steelers fans as Mike McCarthy has shown that he can develop young quarterbacks. Allar, who’s the only one in the quarterback room handpicked by McCarthy, had a two-hour long practice session in the minicamp.

It’s very unheard in the NFL circles for a single QB hour-long practice sessions. Though it is advisable not to read much into it, it could be a signal about Allar being readied and developed.

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