STEELERS MUST DO THIS FOR RODGERS: Bill Cowher Urges Pittsburgh to Hand Aaron Rodgers Full Offensive Control!

The Pittsburgh Steelers have cultivated a roster that's capable of competing for a playoff spot and perhaps even more this upcoming season, but their fate ultimately rests upon the shoulders of quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

As the 41-year-old heads into what appears to be the final year of his illustrious career, former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher believes the team should give him autonomy of the offense in a similar manner to Ben Roethlisberger.

“Absolutely,” he said on the 'Dan Patrick Show'. “I don’t think there’s any question about it. And I think Aaron’s at a point where he knows you don’t want him to be throwing the ball 40 times a game at this point. You want Aaron Rodgers to be healthy going into the playoffs, and hopefully you get to the playoffs. I think in the meantime, you create a balance on your football team that you’re not just relying on his arm throughout the course of four quarters.

"Listen, you can turn the ball over to him at the end of the half, end of a game and know he's been there before. I think he will operate that very efficiently. Again, I think it's going to be a matter of getting comfortable within this system with the players he has around him."

Pittsburgh's offseason plans revolved heavily around Rodgers, and now that he's in the building, the organization has done everything in its power to ensure that there's a stable system in place that will allow him to thrive.

Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith worked with Matt LaFleur, Rodgers' former head coach in Green Bay, while the two were members of the Tennessee Titans' coaching staff in 2018, so there's already a preexisting connection between Pittsburgh's new tandem.

During his first media availability with the team in June, Rodgers stated that he and Smith would work closely together throughout the year to ensure that the unit is in the right position to succeed.

"I'm going to learn the offense, and Arthur and I are going to talk a bunch this summer," he said. "If there's things that I like that I'd like to see in the offense, Arthur I'm sure is going to put it in. He knows how to call a game. I know how to get us in the right spot based on what's called. There's two or three plays called in the huddle sometimes. My job is to get us in the right play."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Gerry Dulac reported in February that Smith was not amenable to Russell Wilson changing plays at the line of scrimmage last season, but perhaps he'll shift his philosophy with Rodgers under center.