Pittsburgh Steelers star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward's initial pitch to Aaron Rodgers was, in his words, "misconstrued," when he said on his podcast, "Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, or you don't. It's that simple. That's the pitch."
Joining NFL Network's Good Morning Football on Wednesday, Heyward said he was responding to a specific question about whether he'd chase Rodgers into a darkness retreat to get him to play for Pittsburgh, noting that he'd love to see the four-time NFL MVP in black and gold.
"Yes, it was misconstrued. From my point of view, I was asked the question of, 'Would you go to the lengths of going to a darkness retreat to recruit Aaron Rodgers?' I said, 'I'm not doing that,' " Heyward said. "The pitch is: If you wanna be a Steeler, be a Steeler. It wasn't meant that I don't like Rodgers or I'm against it. I think when I look at our team right now, it would be really cool to have a guy like Aaron Rodgers, but I can't be the guy who gets it over the finish line. I think he's got to make those decisions for himself."
Rodgers visited the Steelers last week, but a deal has yet to come to fruition. With the Giants inking Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson in the past five days and the Vikings publicizing that they're not currently chasing the former Jets QB, the landing spots for Rodgers have mostly dried up outside of Pittsburgh.
Heyward said he didn't run into Rodgers during the visit and hasn't spoken to the QB during the process.
"I have not had any communication with him," he said. "I was actually with some strength coaches that day he was in the building. I think they were trying to get everybody out of the building so they could just have a conversation with him. But what I would say to him? I would just say, you know, if you come to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the goal is to win. You know, we haven't had the success we want, but the goal is still in mind to raise a Lombardi and bring that seventh one to Pittsburgh. We don't really care about the glitz and glam of New York, but the focus is on good hard football, competing every day, challenging each other, trying to go from there."
Pittsburgh always represented the best chance for Rodgers to start unimpeded and chase another playoff berth after missing the postseason the past three years. Presuming he doesn't plan on retiring, the Steelers remain the top option.
The question is how long the situation will drag out.
Heyward said that while there shouldn't be a deadline in his mind, it's always good for players to build chemistry before the season begins.
"Thankfully, I'm not Mike T (Tomlin) or (general manager) Omar Khan, because that is a decision they gotta make," Heyward said. "I think when you look at that decision, you'd like it to be done by the draft, but if it's not, hopefully it's done before the season, that's all I care about. I think we could have a lot of things in play, and you want to get to know your team, wide receivers. Bringing over a DK Metcalf, George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, Connor Heyward, Jaylen Warren, all these different guys -- you put them together, any quarterback's gonna want to create a relationship and create a bond there. So I hope sooner rather than later."
Rodgers, as is his modus operandi, is in no hurry to decide. Offseason workouts for teams with returning head coaches don't even start until April 21, so there is still plenty of time for Rodgers to make his decision before any time is literally or theoretically missed.
