Report: Potential Steelers Trade for Aaron Rodgers Could Include 3 First-Round Draft Picks
A potential trade for Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers would cost the Pittsburgh Steelers more than three first-round picks, according to a projection by Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports.
Benjamin broke down potential trade packages teams could offer the Packers after it was reported over the weekend that the Denver Broncos, Tennessee Titans and Steelers are teams that could be potential landing spots for the reigning two-time NFL MVP.
Benjamin said a package from the Steelers could include the team’s first-round picks in 2022, 2023 and 2024, along with a third-round 2023 pick. That specific package is just supposition, but appears to meet the general price tag the Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst would need to trade his star quarterback.
Rodgers will cost whichever team that acquires him approximately $26 million in salary and salary cap charges in 2022, the final year of his contract. He’s rumored to be looking for around $50 million per season in any potential contract extension.
The Steelers do have the salary cap space to make such a deal, though it would largely hamper their ability to make other free agent moves.
Kevin Colbert has seven picks in the 2022 NFL Draft to work with, so trading this year’s first-rounder may not be a dealbreaker, though Pittsburgh has loathed to part with high draft picks in the past. The Steelers have traded their first-round draft pick for a player just once since 1970, when the team acquired Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2019.
That trade has worked out, as Fitzpatrick has become one of the best young safeties in football, but trading three first-round picks for the 38-year-old Rodgers would be a far more significant investment of resources by the Steelers.
Pittsburgh is in the market for a quarterback this offseason after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers are expected to add to their current quarterback room of Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins in some fashion before the start of the 2022 season.
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