Month after Steelers passed on Shedeur Sanders, NFL insider claims Russell Wilson's failures derailed Mike Tomlin’s hopes

The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently in a quarterback quandary. They currently have one of the league's weakest quarterback rotations in Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson, and Will Howard. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers has yet to commit to a decision on playing for them.

They had a ready-made solution, though. In the weeks leading up to the draft, Shedeur Sanders had been losing enough draft stock that going 21st overall with the franchise would not have seemed implausible. But they passed up on him, and Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer has an idea why.

Speaking on Bill Simmons' eponymous podcast, he hypothesized that head coach Mike Tomlin wanted to avoid a repeat of when he benched Justin Fields despite a 4-2 start in favor of Russell Wilson (from 12:20 in the video below):

"Tomlin liked Shedeur going into the draft. But I don't think Tomlin wanted to press that button again after what happened with Russell last year. So there's some dynamics there where it's like... man like if we were just average at that position or we were just running things the way they were supposed to be run, we might have been OK."

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Ian Rapoport stands by Aaron Rodgers-Steelers prediction

Early last month, Ian Rapoport had foreseen the Steelers signing Aaron Rodgers after a major purge of their offense that claimed Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Najee Harris, and George Pickens - unless he chooses to retire. In the days since, he has stuck by that stance even as the multiple-time MVP's silence continues.

Speaking on The Insiders recently, he said:

"It would be a surprise if Aaron Rdgers is not on the Steelers right now. I'm not saying he's made a decision. I'm not saying retirement's ruled out, but it would be a surprise. Maybe a better question is when, and to me, the one that makes the most sense is for Rodgers to announce... right before mandatory minicamp."

A few days later, he explained how the franchise had been handling the pursuit "the right way" while speaking to Pat McAfee:

"I think the Steelers are more kind of, 'We want him, and we hope we get him, but we just don't know.' ...They have been so patient, making sure that everything that happens is everything (that) he wants and plans... I've never felt like this is some kind of power play."

Tomorrow will mark the day Rodgers' dead cap money is officially split into $14 million this season and $35 million the next.