What Shedeur Sanders’ Visit Means For Steelers’ Pursuit Of Aaron Rodgers

Ian Rapoport doesn’t believe the Steelers were trying to send a message to Aaron Rodgers with they scheduled a visit with Shedeur Sanders. But there might be “something” to it given the lack of urgency displayed by the four-time NFL MVP, Rapoport said.

“I don’t think this is a message to Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers don’t need to do that,” Rapoport said on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.” “But if it was, I would say the message is ‘You are now on the clock.’ Because the Steelers have been very patient with Rodgers. Free agency was 1,000 years ago. It was so freakin’ long ago. And we were waiting for Aaron Rodgers at that point in free agency, didn’t get a decision. It’s the middle of April basically, we still don’t have a decision. The only real deadline is the draft.

“So by the Steelers bringing in Shedeur Sanders, they’ve made two points: One, if Rodgers doesn’t come to the Steelers they’re probably going to have to draft a quarterback somewhere. And the other part of this is, ‘Rodgers, if you tell us (you’ll decide) after the draft, we’re going to have to protect ourselves.’ So he’s a little bit on the clock, too.”

Sanders, viewed as the second-best quarterback prospect behind only Cam Ward, reportedly will meet with the Steelers on Thursday.

While it’s no certainty the Colorado product will fall all the way to Pittsburgh (21st overall), ESPN’s Adam Schefter recently referred to the Steelers as one of the “most plausible” landing spots for Sanders.