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Steelers entering 2025 NFL draft with same plan, regardless of Aaron Rodgers' decision

Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on

Published in Football

PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin said the ongoing situation with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and when or if he will sign with the Steelers has no impact on what the team intends to do in the upcoming NFL draft.

In addition, general manager Omar Khan indicated the Steelers are not actively seeking to get back the second-round pick they gave up in the DK Metcalf trade, nor is it "realistic" they might move up in the first round for their top selection.

Khan, though, repeated the Steelers intend to go to training camp with four quarterbacks on the roster, which is two more than they already have while waiting for a decision from Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP.

"I assure you we'll have four when we get to Latrobe," Khan said Tuesday during a pre-draft press conference that also included Tomlin.

Anything can happen in the draft.

The Steelers have the 21st pick and six overall when the three-day draft begins Thursday, and their primary focus appears to be finding a defensive lineman to rebuild the position and eventually replace four-time All-Pro Cam Heyward. The Steelers have not used a No. 1 pick on a defensive lineman since they drafted Heyward 31st overall in 2011.

They also want to take advantage of what is considered a deep draft class of running backs to find a replacement for Najee Harris to pair with Jaylen Warren. If they do it in the first round, they are focusing on three — Ashton Jeanty, Omarion Hampton and TreVeyon Henderson.

However, the situation at quarterback, where only Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson are under contract, has raised the curiosity level the Steelers will consider either Colorado's Shedeur Sanders or Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss in the first round. Both players were among the top-30 pre-draft visitors to the South Side.

Asked if the situation with Rodgers has any effect on what the Steelers intend to do in the draft, Tomlin said, "It does not."

Tomlin said the meeting with Sanders, considered the No. 2 quarterback in the draft, was "a normal visit and a very productive one" and had little to do with Tomlin's relationship with Deion Sanders, Shedeur's father and coach at Colorado.

 

"It was a visit to spend time with the young man, to talk ball, to get to know him as an individual, to see how he processes and sees the game and how he articulates his football experience from that standpoint," Tomlin said.

"I think the things that stood out were evident in his video. There's a toughness there that doesn't get talked about enough. The intangible qualities displayed on tape were impressive to me."

It is certainly out of character for Tomlin to talk specifically about a draft prospect as he did with Sanders. But it is not unusual for him to create a smoke screen and deliberately steer people — whether media or the league's other coaches and general managers — away from the team's true intentions.

"It's a game to be played. It's competition. It is fun," Tomlin said. "I think about it at pro days — you guys watch us move, who I interact with, where I go. Sometimes it's real; sometimes it's not. Same could be said about who we bring in on pre-draft visits."

Without a selection in the second round — the price they paid to acquire Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks — the Steelers will have to wait 62 picks after their No. 1 choice to get another player. They are not actively seeking to get back into the second round, but there is always the possibility that could change during the draft.

Especially because the second and third rounds are considered the "sweet spots" of the draft because of the depth at running back, receiver and non-first-round quarterbacks.

"We gave up a second for DK, and I'm so excited we did that," Khan said.

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© 2025 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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