Steelers Sign QB Aaron Rodgers to 1-Year Deal

The inevitable is officially official as of last Friday, with the Steelers finally locking down a real starting quarterback with just three months to go until kickoff for the regular season. Of course, Rodgers is as seasoned a veteran as there is available in the league today, rivaled only by one Joe Flacco in Cleveland. He’ll be an upgrade over longtime Steelers backup QB Mason Rudolph and elevates the fantasy prospects of recently acquired WR D.K. Metcalf, who will likely land squarely within the mid-high WR2 ranks with this development. What the WR situation looks like behind Metcalf is anyone’s guess, but there’s at least the potential that we see a real contributor emerge from the fray with a capable QB like Rodgers around to support whoever that could be.

As a fantasy QB himself, Rodgers is nothing more than a borderline startable fantasy QB and is best served starting in lineups that require a second QB or on benches as a bye-week replacement. In an offense as run-heavy as the Steelers have deployed under Arthur Smith, we could reasonably see Rodgers throwing at an uncharacteristically low rate this season, meaning any fantasy relevance could be dependent on efficiency. Make no mistake, though – the addition of Rodgers raises both the bottom line and ceiling on this Pittsburgh offense.