PITTSBURGH — Our long-running local nightmare has ended.

The Penguins have a coach and the Pirates still can't hit. But Aaron Rodgers is finally joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the 41-year-old, four-time NFL MVP agreeing to a one-year deal on Wednesday afternoon.

While the deal will inevitably produce some skepticism, the Steelers didn't leave themselves much of an alternative. Like or hate it — plenty will pick the latter — it was the best available option, Pittsburgh forced to hope Rodgers has some gas left in the tank.

Whether that part was self-inflicted or not, they do indeed need this to fuel them.

The Steelers must lean on Rodgers for what he is: a veteran quarterback who should be able to quickly process plays and use his smarts, vision and experience to get the ball into the hands of his receivers. They should count on him to bring a different perspective, which Rodgers has been All-World at doing for a number of years.

Seriously, you can hate Rodgers' ego or think he's nuts. He certainly seems to love the drama. But he knows how successful football should be played. The question mark is whether he's capable of actually doing it. We'll find out soon enough.

In the meantime, it's impossible not to consider the many ramifications here.

Mason Rudolph is now firmly the backup, a role it's possible he expected all along. Will Howard's Pro Bowl bid will be delayed, while the importance of pass protection will increase a few notches due to Rodgers' lack of mobility.

More than anything, the Steelers must build on this by adding a veteran wide receiver.

I had a terrific talk with Calvin Austin III on Wednesday at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, one that added important insight into how he's approaching this year. But they're still not deep enough at this spot, especially when you consider that Rodgers needs: speedy playmakers who can get open fast.

"Every year, every offseason, you go back and watch the film and try to figure out what you can do to get better," Pat Freiermuth told me last week. "Regardless if we were the best offense in the NFL last year or the worst, we're always going to try and get better. There's a lot of meat on that bone, as coach [Mike Tomlin] says."

If that meat begins to disappear, meaning if the Rodgers experiment works, I'm convinced that the passing game led by the former Packers and Jets quarterback will be one of the primary reasons why.

Because Rodgers, the NFL's active leader in passing yards (62,952) and touchdowns 503) knows where to go with the ball, and the Steelers don't have to provide a clean pocket for five seconds.

Read it, snap it, and let 'er rip.

It's impossible to say right now, with football in shorts ongoing, whether it will work or fail. Latrobe might provide some clues. It's best to just reserve judgment until the regular season.

But I do know this: The Steelers are better off with Rodgers under center than Rudolph, even if marginally so. And I don't begrudge them for wanting to find out what the ceiling could become.

It would just be nice if they could shorten the next free-agent search by, oh, roughly 2 1/2 months.

Rodgers brings to the Steelers a winning pedigree, along with what some perceive to be a prickly personality or plenty of ... um, quirks. Who cares? Lean into his desire to win. Let him help design the offense.

The Steelers could use a change of pace, and for that reason I actually like the Rodgers signing. It's definitely something different.

This move is also fascinatingly tied to Tomlin, Rodgers' equal on the coaching side when it comes to winning a Super Bowl early in his career ... but also feeling like it's forever and a day ago now.

It's been easy to question the legacy of both because they haven't been back to the mountaintop. Now, they'll try to do it together, finally.

The two men of such different backgrounds are jointly charged with ending an eight-season Steelers playoff drought and continuing to revive an offense that finished 23rd with an average of 319.4 yards per game in 2024.

They'll do it with Rodgers and his unique approach at the helm, the 10-time Pro Bowler suddenly the most identifiable part of the organization.

Should be fun, right?

For while this dragged on and on, defining much of the offseason, the noise is bound to increase. Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers is a storyline that commands attention, regardless of the current abilities possessed by either entity.

The hope should be that they're better together, which has likely been the plan all along.

"I understand we're in a business where everyone wants to know who our quarterback is, but do I have control over that? No. Do the other guys? No. Everybody has their own decision to make," Heyward said. "Social media makes it think it has to happen now. For us, let's lock in and get our work done."

The Steelers have been dutifully doing that, ignoring Rodgers noise and concentrating on OTAs. But with minicamp around the corner, here comes Rodgers, this time likely not driving a rented Chevy Malibu.

One of the biggest storylines our city has seen recently has arrived. It should be nothing short of fascinating.

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