Why Ryan Clark doesn’t want Aaron Rodgers as the Steelers quarterback

Former Steelers safety Ryan Clark wants head coach Mike Tomlin to avoid signing Aaron Rodgers and tank the 2025 season to draft a franchise quarterback in 2026.

Why Ryan Clark doesn’t want Aaron Rodgers as the Steelers quarterback

Ryan Clark and Aaron Rodgers (Image via IMAGO)

Ryan Clark was part of the bandwagon that wanted the Pittsburgh Steelers to draft Shedeur Sanders and relinquish their pursuit of Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers’ draft choices left Clark disappointed.

Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan passed on Sanders multiple times before selecting Ohio State’s Will Howard in the sixth round. Howard isn’t considered an instant starter. Only Miami’s (now Tennessee Titans) Cam Ward and, to some degree, Sanders were the only two viewed as day-one starters in this year’s draft.

The decision to pass up the chance to draft Sanders for Howard can be attributed to only one factor. Tomlin and Khan are waiting for an answer from Rodgers.

The Steelers’ front office may be patient, but some of its current and former players want to see the quarterback dilemma sorted out quickly. Ryan Clark represented the Steelers for seven seasons. He wants the Black and Yellow to be successful, but that’s not possible without a quarterback at the helm, and he doesn’t trust Howard, Mason Rudolph, or Skylar Thompson to lead the team for 17 games.

Clark, as a solution, presented a wild theory. He advised the Steelers to avoid signing Aaron Rodgers because the 41-year-old is not a long-term solution. Instead of waiting for a positive update, the former DB wants Tomlin to tank in 2025 to bag a top-10 pick next year. This will allow them to draft a franchise quarterback.

They should want to lose… But since Ben Roethlisberger, to like the last two or three years of his career, they were not a championship contender, and they played just well enough to never get a high enough pick to go get the next [Ben] Roethlisberger. You aren’t going to find that dude in the free agency either. So, whether it’s Mason Rudolph or Aaron Rodgers, they should want us up finally. They should want to get a top 10 pick in a quarterback draft that looks to be that looks a lot better next year than the one that there was this year.

Ryan Clark said on ESPN’s Get Up

Ryan Clark has more faith in Dak Prescott than in Aaron Rodgers

It’s obvious that Clark doesn’t want Rodgers anywhere near Pittsburgh if he’s willing to see Tomlin record his first-ever losing season at Pittsburgh. On paper, the 2026 draft class looks much better than the 14 quarterbacks drafted this year.

Ryan Clark explains why he doesn't want Aaron Rodgers as the Steelers quarterback
Aaron Rodgers (Image via IMAGO)

Clark is so against the idea of seeing Rodgers in black and gold, he went out of his way to praise the Dallas Cowboys of all teams. It’s a rare occurrence. The 45-year-old not only praised Jerry Jones for strengthening the Cowboys’ roster but also backed Dak Prescott to have a better campaign than Rodgers if he were to sign with the Steelers.

You’re talking about a team [Dallas Cowboys] that I feel more prepared and more comfortable with saying that they can be successful—can compete within their division. [It’s] based on one main factor that I believe more in Dak Prescott than I believe in Aaron Rodgers if he does decide to play—obviously, than I do in Mason Rudolph.

Ryan Clark said

Clark is thinking more as a fan of the Steelers than about what’s best for the franchise itself. It’s not a bad suggestion, but then again, it’s the Steelers he’s talking about. They are among the few blue-chip organizations in the NFL that every football player wants to be part of. Tanking a season should be the last resort for unique circumstances.

It doesn’t make much sense to go down Clark’s route when Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac revealed that the Steelers firmly believe Aaron Rodgers will play for them, as per the Steelers Depot.

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