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By Matthew Couden
Contributing Writer
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a season where they reached the playoffs with longtime Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Tomlin and veteran Super Bowl-winning quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
However, the team was eliminated by the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round, prompting discussions about Rodgers potentially retiring from the NFL. Along with that, Mike Tomlin stepped down from his position as head coach after 19 seasons of coaching the Steelers.
After their coaching search, Pittsburgh hired its ideal candidate in Mike McCarthy, who previously served as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. He coached the Packers, featuring Rodgers, to a Super Bowl XLV win over the Steelers in 2011.
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That has prompted many to speculate that Rodgers, 42, could return to play another season as he reunites with his former coach. Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger, also a Super Bowl winner with the team, recently shared his thoughts on that situation.
"For him to come back and know this offense, I assume it's something he could just snap right into. I could see him wanting to come back, but if he doesn't, you know what, Mike McCarthy's got some young guys here in Will Howard, that I'm excited for whenever that time comes, Mike McCarthy can get [him] ready to play," he said on FS1's "First Things First."
Asked about the idea of a "full reset" to rebuild the team going forward, Roethlisberger shared an interesting take.
“I think rebuild is like this big word in Pittsburgh, you don’t use that word rebuild. Well then, let’s use a different word, let’s call it ‘building,’” he said of the Steelers situation.
Roethlisberger said some call this Steelers roster older, but he indicated that could mainly be because the team's stars are older, such as Rodgers, T.J. Watt, and Cam Heyward. He mentioned they have a "good young line" that he would "add a few pieces to."
"If you look at this roster, there's like a really good group of year two to five [players] that I think is really important," he said.
The Steelers legend also said he thinks teams shouldn't focus on drafting a quarterback to build around, but rather on building a team they can "plug a quarterback into."
Meanwhile, Rodgers has yet to announce his retirement decision, despite indicating before this season that he expected it to be his last. There have been some NFL mock drafts suggesting that Pittsburgh could try to add quarterback Ty Simpson to its roster.
Nonetheless, they have the coach they wanted, and based on Roethlisberger's remarks, he should be able to work well with whichever quarterback starts for the team.
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