The Steelers begin the third and final phase of their offseason program on Monday with the start of voluntary OTAs at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. While no player is required to attend until mandatory minicamp on June 2, there'll still likely be a high attendance. Thus, there are some questions that should be answered in the coming days.
RODGERS WATCH FINALLY OVER
With Aaron Rodgers now in the fold, the first thing he needs to do is actually sign his contract, then hit the field with his team. From that point, what does this look like? How will the reps be split? How can the younger quarterbacks such as Will Howard and Drew Allar get the reps they need for their development while Rodgers also gets enough reps to start establishing a rapport with Michael Pittman Jr. and Germie Bernard?
I'm also curious to hear from Rodgers' teammates. They all loved and revered him last year. Has that changed? Are they still buying into him the same way the 2025 team did? After all, there are new pieces on this team, and it's a whole new coaching staff.
That leads me into one final thought on Rodgers, but certainly not one to be forgotten: How will the dynamic work between him and Mike McCarthy? Stories out of Green Bay, especially in 2018 when McCarthy lost his job, were not glowing of the relationship between the two. Also, the last time McCarthy coached him, Rodgers was only 35 years old and had only won two of his four MVP awards. So, he's not the same quarterback. It'll be fun to dig more into that over the next few months.
OFFENSIVE LINE CAROUSEL
With the majority of the team expected to be in attendance at OTAs, how will the offensive line be shuffled? Regarding the rookies, we know Max Iheanachor was told he's playing right tackle while Gennings Dunker was working at left guard at rookie minicamp. So, what does that mean for Troy Fautanu? Is he staying on the right side, which would mean Iheanachor has zero chance of starting this season?
Also, how does Broderick Jones factor into all of this? His rehab from the neck injury that ended his 2025 season has created a lot of uncertainty going forward with the franchise, which included the decision to decline his fifth-year option. That being said, Jones was on the field with his teammates during Phase Two workouts last week. So, is he getting closer to returning? If so, does he just earn his spot back at left tackle? And, after the way he played last season, what about Dylan Cook? There's so much to unpack here.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR EXTENSIONS
OTAs are the first opportunity to get a true feel for how contract negotiations might go for certain players up for extensions. The Steelers have already gotten extensions done with Cam Heyward and Chris Boswell, the latter just last week, but several players from the 2023 draft class are heading into the final year of their rookie contracts, and I know for a fact the organization wants to keep as many of them as possible.
So, will we see Joey Porter Jr., Nick Herbig, Darnell Washington or Keeanu Benton? If not, is it because they don't need to or because they are trying to establish leverage for summer-long negotiations? I'll be watching for that.
Also, I wouldn't forget players such as Patrick Queen, who's heading into the final year of his deal. He's only 26 years old, so he still has a lot of football left in him. But, does this new coaching staff value Queen the same way Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin did? Does Patrick Graham know of a way to get more out of a player who was once a second-team All-Pro with the Ravens? And, if so, is that worth the cost of an extension?
FIRST LOOK AT NEW DEFENSE
We won't get a ton of answers here at OTAs, but I'm still curious to see the initial stages of the defense under Graham. One thing to watch will be where players are lining up. For example, will Jalen Ramsey really be a chess piece and be all over the place? In addition, how the safeties are deployed is also very intriguing. Based on current roster construction and some of the things I've heard from the inside over the past couple months, I expect to see more two-high looks. But, it's one thing to hear about it while it's something else entirely to see it unfold before our eyes.
I'm also intrigued to hear from the players about Graham's defense, especially those who played for Tomlin for several years. What differences are they willing to share? What excites them about this defense? For as much attention that's geared toward the offense and quarterback -- rightfully so, on the latter -- we can easily forget that this is a legitimate threat to repeat as AFC North champions if this defense performs up to the level of the collective talent.
MCCARTHY'S ERA BEGINS
One thing I've always done as a reporter that covers this football team, encouraged to do so by the great late Dale Lolley: Follow the head coach around. If it's important to him, then it's important for the team.
Tomlin was all over the place. He'd roam from position to position. I also learned how Tomlin coached his team in a much better way by following him around. So, when the media has full access to Wednesday's OTA, I plan to following McCarthy around quite a bit. I want to see how he's going to coach this team and -- just as important -- how the players respond to him.
This is McCarthy's team now. And, nothing I've heard or seen from him or anyone else in the organization makes me think he's trying to emulate Tomlin. But, I still want to see what this actually looks like. After all, this isn't a franchise that changes head coaches very often. So, seeing the genesis of the McCarthy era is very intriguing.
THE ASYLUM
Five things to watch at OTAs
The Steelers begin the third and final phase of their offseason program on Monday with the start of voluntary OTAs at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. While no player is required to attend until mandatory minicamp on June 2, there'll still likely be a high attendance. Thus, there are some questions that should be answered in the coming days.
RODGERS WATCH FINALLY OVER
With Aaron Rodgers now in the fold, the first thing he needs to do is actually sign his contract, then hit the field with his team. From that point, what does this look like? How will the reps be split? How can the younger quarterbacks such as Will Howard and Drew Allar get the reps they need for their development while Rodgers also gets enough reps to start establishing a rapport with Michael Pittman Jr. and Germie Bernard?
I'm also curious to hear from Rodgers' teammates. They all loved and revered him last year. Has that changed? Are they still buying into him the same way the 2025 team did? After all, there are new pieces on this team, and it's a whole new coaching staff.
That leads me into one final thought on Rodgers, but certainly not one to be forgotten: How will the dynamic work between him and Mike McCarthy? Stories out of Green Bay, especially in 2018 when McCarthy lost his job, were not glowing of the relationship between the two. Also, the last time McCarthy coached him, Rodgers was only 35 years old and had only won two of his four MVP awards. So, he's not the same quarterback. It'll be fun to dig more into that over the next few months.
OFFENSIVE LINE CAROUSEL
With the majority of the team expected to be in attendance at OTAs, how will the offensive line be shuffled? Regarding the rookies, we know Max Iheanachor was told he's playing right tackle while Gennings Dunker was working at left guard at rookie minicamp. So, what does that mean for Troy Fautanu? Is he staying on the right side, which would mean Iheanachor has zero chance of starting this season?
Also, how does Broderick Jones factor into all of this? His rehab from the neck injury that ended his 2025 season has created a lot of uncertainty going forward with the franchise, which included the decision to decline his fifth-year option. That being said, Jones was on the field with his teammates during Phase Two workouts last week. So, is he getting closer to returning? If so, does he just earn his spot back at left tackle? And, after the way he played last season, what about Dylan Cook? There's so much to unpack here.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR EXTENSIONS
OTAs are the first opportunity to get a true feel for how contract negotiations might go for certain players up for extensions. The Steelers have already gotten extensions done with Cam Heyward and Chris Boswell, the latter just last week, but several players from the 2023 draft class are heading into the final year of their rookie contracts, and I know for a fact the organization wants to keep as many of them as possible.
So, will we see Joey Porter Jr., Nick Herbig, Darnell Washington or Keeanu Benton? If not, is it because they don't need to or because they are trying to establish leverage for summer-long negotiations? I'll be watching for that.
Also, I wouldn't forget players such as Patrick Queen, who's heading into the final year of his deal. He's only 26 years old, so he still has a lot of football left in him. But, does this new coaching staff value Queen the same way Mike Tomlin and Teryl Austin did? Does Patrick Graham know of a way to get more out of a player who was once a second-team All-Pro with the Ravens? And, if so, is that worth the cost of an extension?
FIRST LOOK AT NEW DEFENSE
We won't get a ton of answers here at OTAs, but I'm still curious to see the initial stages of the defense under Graham. One thing to watch will be where players are lining up. For example, will Jalen Ramsey really be a chess piece and be all over the place? In addition, how the safeties are deployed is also very intriguing. Based on current roster construction and some of the things I've heard from the inside over the past couple months, I expect to see more two-high looks. But, it's one thing to hear about it while it's something else entirely to see it unfold before our eyes.
I'm also intrigued to hear from the players about Graham's defense, especially those who played for Tomlin for several years. What differences are they willing to share? What excites them about this defense? For as much attention that's geared toward the offense and quarterback -- rightfully so, on the latter -- we can easily forget that this is a legitimate threat to repeat as AFC North champions if this defense performs up to the level of the collective talent.
MCCARTHY'S ERA BEGINS
One thing I've always done as a reporter that covers this football team, encouraged to do so by the great late Dale Lolley: Follow the head coach around. If it's important to him, then it's important for the team.
Tomlin was all over the place. He'd roam from position to position. I also learned how Tomlin coached his team in a much better way by following him around. So, when the media has full access to Wednesday's OTA, I plan to following McCarthy around quite a bit. I want to see how he's going to coach this team and -- just as important -- how the players respond to him.
This is McCarthy's team now. And, nothing I've heard or seen from him or anyone else in the organization makes me think he's trying to emulate Tomlin. But, I still want to see what this actually looks like. After all, this isn't a franchise that changes head coaches very often. So, seeing the genesis of the McCarthy era is very intriguing.
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