Several Pittsburgh Steelers legends have criticized the franchise’s pursuit of Aaron Rodgers.
Terry Bradshaw was the latest to speak up, calling any Rodgers interest a "joke."
“That’s a joke. 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.”
Bradshaw made those comments on 103.7 The Buzz in Arkansas Tuesday.
Ben Roethlisberger previously accused Rodgers of holding the Steelers hostage as he waited for the Minnesota Vikings to offer him a contract.
“I think Aaron secretly is still holding out for Minnesota, which is why he hasn’t signed with the Steelers. Why else would you go throw with DK and be working out and put it out, blast it to everybody that I’m throwing to these guys, but you won’t sign?”
Roethlisberger said that on the "Footbahlin" podcast.
Cam Heyward sounded offended at the idea of recruiting Rodgers to Pittsburgh while discussing the topic in March.
“There’s no need to recruit. It’s been more black and white up front… You roll with who’s here. It’s not guessing. You gotta get to work you put in. You can’t worry about who’s not here. Same way goes if I was to miss practice. Train keeps going. We’ll see what happens. You really just can’t worry about what’s going on outside of here. That’s the way the Steelers have always run the ship.”
Heyward made those comments per PennLive.com.
Heyward would later change his stance, likely at the request of his agent and the Steelers’ front office.
Terry Bradshaw defends Pitt Panthers legend Kenny Pickett from the Steelers
Bradshaw isn’t just frustrated with Pittsburgh’s handling of the quarterback position this offseason. Mason Rudolph and sixth-round draft pick Will Howard are the team’s two likeliest QB1 options as things currently stand.
The Hall of Fame Steelers quarterback criticized the franchise for mishandling former Pitt Panthers star Kenny Pickett’s development.
“I liked Kenny Pickett. I liked him at Pitt. I know him, I know what he’s like. When they got him to Pittsburgh, they didn’t protect him, they didn’t get him an offensive line. 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 they 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. Now, they’re saying Kenny Pickett is a failure. He wasn’t a failure, the Steelers were a failure.”
Pickett just won a Super Bowl ring as a backup for the Philadelphia Eagles.
He’s the current frontrunner to win the Cleveland Browns’ starting job.
Things have been looking up for Pickett more than they have for the Steelers, at least at the QB position, since the player and organization parted ways.
