Ireland Contracting Nightly Sports Call: May 9, 2026

0:00 Right now, Pittsburgh's best sports show is about to begin.

0:04 Call us or tweet us.

0:06 We've got [music] things to talk about

0:08 on the Ireland Contracting nightly sports call.

0:14 Hello and welcome into the Ireland Contracting nightly sports call.

0:16 I'm your host tonight, Cassidy Wood,

0:18 and I'm joined alongside the one, the only Brian Batko, Steelers insider.

0:24 We love having him on the show on a day like today

0:27 when media was allowed to be over at Steelers rookie mini camp.

0:31 Brian, first and foremost, how are you?

0:33 I feel like it's been a while.

0:35 It has.

0:35 It has.

0:36 I'm doing great, Cassidy.

0:37 How are you?

0:37 I'm great.

0:38 I'm great.

0:39 I'm ready to talk some Steelers because uh look,

0:42 we've been going back and forth about this Aaron Rodgers saga the past 48 hours,

0:45 but today a little bit of new news with uh

0:48 getting to see these rookies in action for the first time.

0:50 So, first and

0:51 him out now.

0:51 Here he comes, Aaron Rodgers.

0:53 [laughter] Ladies and gentlemen, That'd be nice.

0:56 That would be insane.

0:57 He decides to make his announcement here on the nightly

0:59 Ratings through the roof.

1:00 Could you imagine?

1:01 Uh that would be so great.

1:02 Aaron, please actually come do that.

1:04 That would be great.

1:05 Um but yeah, you got a chance to see all these rookies

1:08 in action for the first time with Mike McCarthy and that coaching staff.

1:11 Just first and foremost, Drew Allar, only QB over there,

1:15 uh only rookie QB obviously that the Steelers have.

1:17 So, getting a lot of one-on-one time with Mike McCarthy.

1:21 Just how did you see him kind of jelling with Tom Arth too,

1:24 quarterback coach, and McCarthy?

1:26 Yeah, I mean, Drew Allar,

1:28 the he was getting a lot of work today, that's for sure.

1:30 And generally, they they bring in at least

1:32 one other arm for these uh rookie mini camps.

1:35 It's tends to be a a tryout guy or or someone like

1:38 that, but Mike McCarthy wanted to take a long look at Allar,

1:42 and you know, he really was.

1:43 I mean, he was in Drew's back pocket for a lot

1:46 of the day when when I was watching at the start of practice.

1:48 And certainly, Tom Arth heavily involved there, too.

1:51 Brian Angelico, the offensive coordinator.

1:53 So, that whole brain trust working to develop uh the rookie

1:57 third-round pick out of Penn State and Aller saying all

2:00 the right things after practice about how he's trying to be

2:03 a student of the game right now and you know, build from the ground up,

2:08 learn this offense that Mike McCarthy

2:10 has had really good quarterbacks thrive in.

2:12 So, we'll see where it goes.

2:13 I certainly can't make any determinations about a guy after uh a couple hours,

2:18 one practice in in early May and I don't think the coaching staff can either,

2:21 but they liked what they saw in the pre-draft

2:23 process and now begins the next step of that process, which is coaching him up.

2:28 Yeah, I mean, had to battle back from that scary season-ending injury.

2:32 So, it does feel like the past few months, you know,

2:35 the combine and his pro day leading up to this, he's really worked hard

2:39 to rehab back and so uh it's nice to see him obviously out there again.

2:43 Now, I McCarthy did mention that, "Hey, look,

2:46 if we if we have four quarterbacks, you know,

2:48 he sees that as a positive thing." Do you actually think

2:51 there's a world where they keep four QBs on this roster?

2:55 No, I don't think so.

2:56 I I think he meant more for training camp purposes and you know,

2:59 obviously the fourth would be Aaron Rodgers and I mean,

3:03 if last year's any indication under Mike Tomlin,

3:06 Aaron's going to practice a lot and he's going

3:08 to be absorbing a lot of the reps in Latrobe.

3:11 Maybe McCarthy will do things differently.

3:12 Maybe it just will behoove the organization to do things differently if you've

3:16 got two young guys in there who you want to develop and and give,

3:20 you know, put some more on their plate uh essentially in in practice,

3:24 but it's also ultimately about winning games

3:26 and if if you're bringing back 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers,

3:30 you kind of need to push all your chips into the plate

3:33 of trying to win games and and to that end,

3:35 it would be get on the same page with your wide receivers,

3:38 both the returning guys from last year who are learning a new offense

3:41 as well as the new guys who are not just learning a new offense,

3:44 but learning what it's like to be a Steeler and play with Aaron Rodgers.

3:48 Mhm.

3:49 What do you think is the purpose of him being here this weekend?

3:52 look, we we know he's here.

3:53 I mean, it's a given he's here.

3:55 We've had so many reports that he is here.

3:57 So, at this point I'd be completely shocked if if he wasn't actually here.

4:02 But then my follow-up to that my follow-up question is just why?

4:05 Why why would he be here if it's not to be over

4:07 at the South Side and hanging out with these rookies or talking to the team?

4:11 Uh Gerry Dulac reporting today that no

4:13 one from the Steelers has communicated with him.

4:15 So, I mean, did he just come back to hang

4:17 out with like some players that could potentially be in town?

4:21 Or what why do you think he's even here?

4:23 Uh yeah, I I don't know, Cassie.

4:24 Maybe he left the garage door open back

4:26 in January [laughter] and and and wanted to address that.

4:29 So, uh no, I mean, it's it is a strange situation and you know,

4:33 somebody asked me like, you know, why would he be in town but not you know,

4:36 at the facility meeting with the team at least as far as we know.

4:39 And I don't know how to answer that.

4:40 It's it's Aaron Rodgers is really the only explanation that that I can give.

4:45 Uh the the documentary about him on Netflix is called Enigma.

4:49 It's not called as expected or solution.

4:52 So, this is you know, what you sign up for when when you do business with Aaron

4:57 and I think ultimately the Steelers still feel like it's it's headed toward

5:00 the outcome that they expected even if it might be taking a little

5:05 bit longer to get to that outcome than they thought at the outset.

5:08 Yeah, I think it's just funny because I just remember Omar Khan telling us

5:12 a few months back that it was not going to be like last year.

5:15 We would get an answer sooner than last year.

5:17 But it's not yet because he signed in time for mini camp last weird.

5:21 Like I keep saying it,

5:22 but it does feel weird for him to come in and sign a contract before

5:25 all of these mandatory off-season workouts when he

5:28 is entering his 22nd year in the league.

5:30 I mean, he's been playing in the NFL for over two decades.

5:33 The dude doesn't necessarily and he's 42.

5:35 I mean, he doesn't necessarily need to be exerting his his body and putting

5:40 his body on the line in these mandatory

5:42 workouts before training camp even starts.

5:44 So, in my mind it would make more sense if he is

5:47 going to sign to maybe do it closer to training camp and not,

5:50 you know, so far out like this.

5:52 So, even when the reports first started

5:54 that he was maybe going to come this weekend,

5:56 maybe meet with the Steelers, maybe sign a contract this weekend,

5:59 I just thought it was weird from the jump.

6:01 Like, I just didn't understand why now.

6:03 I think when activities are optional at this juncture of the NFL calendar,

6:09 Aaron really takes that to heart.

6:11 It is optional, it is voluntary.

6:13 You need not be signed to the team at that point,

6:16 and even if you are, you don't need to be there for those team functions.

6:20 And, you know, I think teams certainly

6:22 love to have perfect attendance if they can,

6:25 but, you know, GMs and coaches are are not naive to the idea of veterans,

6:30 especially some of the higher profile ones,

6:32 doing their own thing this time of year until they are obligated to be there.

6:36 So, I, you know, I assume that's part of it.

6:39 As far as the money, that's another kind of unanswered question here.

6:43 I know a lot of people are trying to fill

6:44 in the blanks of kind of what you were asking, Cassidy,

6:47 if he's here in town, but his agent is doing a lot of the legwork,

6:51 does that mean that it is about money?

6:54 Let's be honest, everything in life's kind of about money at some point, right?

6:58 At the end of the day, and just how much it is for Aaron and the Steelers,

7:02 that's what we don't know at this point.

7:04 Yeah, what do you think it is?

7:05 Like, I was hearing maybe around 18

7:07 mil with like incentives, upwards of like 23.

7:11 So, definitely more than last year,

7:13 which also is kind of interesting considering, I mean,

7:16 he took him to a playoff game, but it was a very beat-up AFC North.

7:20 Yeah, they won the division, but it was pretty beat up, and I don't know.

7:24 It's just it it's it'd be interesting if money were really the issue here to me.

7:29 Yeah, I I don't know ultimately what he's going

7:31 to end up playing for or wanting to play for.

7:33 I think from the Steelers' perspective, I mean, yes,

7:36 they're intrigued by the idea of Aaron Rodgers being the quarterback again,

7:39 and and they were last year,

7:40 but beyond just him as a player and and what he brings as a leader,

7:44 I think a part of the equation is just how affordable he was and looks to be.

7:50 I mean, it's it's sort of a market inefficiency when you can get

7:53 a a rookie quarterback on a cheap deal and and build your team around him.

7:57 They don't have that guy right now in this franchise for the long term.

8:02 So, they're kind of reverse engineering it to get a veteran

8:06 quarterback who is cheap and and on a deal like that.

8:09 You know, they did thing with Russell Wilson a couple years ago.

8:12 So, I think it's kind of hard to extract

8:14 that from the the overall idea of bringing Rogers back.

8:17 Yeah, agree with you there.

8:19 All right, guys.

8:19 This is our Penn West University question of the night.

8:21 Which Steelers rookie are you most excited to see?

8:25 Is it Max?

8:25 Is it Jeremy, by the way,

8:27 not pronounced Jeremy like I originally thought, but it is Jeremy.

8:29 And Drew Aller, Jennings Dunker, or Eli, of course, the local kid, fan favorite.

8:34 I want to talk to you about Eli, too, Brian.

8:36 When we come back after the break, though.

8:38 Give us a call.

8:38 412-575-2600.

8:42 We'll be right back after this.

8:47 Welcome back to the Nightly Sports Call.

8:49 This is our Xfinity Tweet of the Night from Steelers Insider Gerry Dulac.

8:53 From sources, Aaron Rodgers has been in town for a couple days,

8:57 but the Steelers have not met with him

8:59 yet and instead have been talking with his agent.

9:02 Rodgers has stayed away from the team's Southside facility

9:05 while the 3-day rookie mini camp has been going on.

9:09 So, very interesting.

9:11 Like Brian and I were talking about in that first segment,

9:15 find it odd that Rodgers is here in town this weekend,

9:17 yet not communicating with the team and instead having his agent talk to them,

9:22 which like we said, begs the question, is it about money?

9:26 Yeah, I don't necessarily think it's weird

9:28 that he's not there during the rookie camp.

9:30 I mean, he's not signed to the team.

9:32 I mean, it's they're not going to bring him in as a guest speaker.

9:34 He's he's the projected starting quarterback for 2026,

9:38 but you you can't turn that projection into reality until he actually signs

9:42 on the dotted line then and I still think that's going to happen, but you know,

9:48 you mentioned in at the in the first segment Cassie that you know,

9:51 we were all kind of told by Steelers

9:53 brass that this wasn't going to be as protracted

9:57 of an ordeal as it was this time a year

9:59 ago and it hasn't been yet knock on wood,

10:02 but it has been a little funkier as far as you know,

10:05 the unrestricted free agent tender getting thrown out there and you know,

10:09 Aaron's own appearance on the Pat McAfee show a while back saying

10:14 that there hadn't been an offer made by the Steelers and you know,

10:18 that there hadn't been progressive conversations.

10:21 So it is kind of yet again a game of you know,

10:26 where's the truth here is there's semantics involved.

10:29 I think it'll all be wrapped up sooner than later,

10:32 but I don't blame anybody who's got some fatigue go for the whole deal.

10:35 Oh, yeah, 100% with that fatigue.

10:38 Let's go out to the phone lines.

10:39 We have Bob in Beachview.

10:40 Hi Bob.

10:43 Hi, are you you calling Bob?

10:45 I heard a static.

10:46 Yeah.

10:48 Okay, listen, you don't want Rogers around right now.

10:51 Look how hard they're working with the two brand new guys

10:54 and this and the guy above them is Mason Rudolph who you know all about anyway.

11:00 So you they're getting a lot of good

11:01 coaching time and Rogers not is not a distraction.

11:07 Yeah, Bob I agree with you there.

11:08 The other thing too is I mean the Steelers have

11:10 kind of been stuck in this mediocrity bubble a little bit.

11:13 I mean never losing season cool.

11:15 That's a cool stat, but 9 and 8 every year 10 and 7 however,

11:19 you want to swing it.

11:20 I mean they're kind of stuck in in this period

11:23 of mediocrity if you will just in the middle.

11:25 They can never get a good solid draft

11:26 pick because they never have a losing season.

11:28 So it is kind of a win-win in a way if you look

11:32 at it if Rodgers doesn't come and you end up rolling out these two,

11:35 well, one rookie and essentially a rookie because Will

11:38 Howard hasn't even played a snap in the NFL, preseason or anything.

11:42 So, it's a chance, I think, for a rebranding of the Steelers,

11:45 maybe try to figure out that quarterback because look,

11:48 let's face it, we have not had a franchise quarterback since Ben.

11:51 I mean, we haven't.

11:51 It's been a rotating cast of characters

11:53 here in Pittsburgh ever since Ben retired.

11:56 So, to get opportunity to maybe, you know,

11:59 coach some of those younger guys up and see

12:02 if they have the ability to fill those shoes long-term,

12:05 I think that's beneficial and and maybe it

12:08 might set them back bringing back Rodgers again.

12:10 I don't know.

12:11 That's a whole other universe and I think it's a very valid point by you,

12:16 Cassidy, but I just don't think we're going to be living in that universe.

12:19 To to get more to Bob's question or or his contention

12:22 that it's fine that Rodgers isn't around right now,

12:25 let alone for OTAs and, you know, we'll see about veteran mini camp.

12:29 I I would think he'd be in the fold by then because he was last year.

12:33 I mean, just trying to see I get that, Bob,

12:35 but trying to see it from all angles as I tend to do,

12:39 I think the rebuttal to that would just be you can be

12:43 there and not taking reps and passing

12:46 knowledge down to the younger quarterbacks,

12:48 to the receivers who you're going to be throwing

12:51 to come September and October when the games count and matter.

12:57 You could be giving them pointers on the timing

12:59 and how you want your routes run.

13:01 That's just the devil's advocate take on it,

13:03 but Mike McCarthy himself has agreed with you, Bob,

13:06 that it's actually beneficial in some ways that he's not here because there's no

13:10 you're not compelled to give him reps and it's it's more for Mason Rudolph,

13:15 Will Howard, and Drew Allar to grow in their positions.

13:17 Yeah.

13:18 Yeah.

13:18 All right, let's go back out to the phone lines.

13:20 We have Evan in Moon Township.

13:21 Hi, Evan.

13:23 Hi, how are you?

13:24 Good.

13:26 So, about the Aaron Rodgers thing that's going on, do you think he will

13:30 stay with the team or probably not and they should they move on from him?

13:37 Yeah, I mean like we've been talking about honestly all night.

13:40 I I don't know.

13:41 It's a toss-up because I do see positives and negatives to both.

13:45 I mean truly.

13:45 I see Rodgers coming here being able to coach up these young quarterbacks.

13:49 He's a first ballot Hall of Famer.

13:51 He has a ton of experience that you know,

13:53 he can share with these young bucks that are just starting their NFL career.

13:57 So, on that side of it, it does feel like a positive,

14:00 but like we've been saying, I mean there's a negative side to it too.

14:04 Does it set the team back a little bit?

14:05 Does it not give these young quarterbacks an opportunity to go

14:08 out and make mistakes and and get those game time reps?

14:12 Yeah, I mean Evan, I think he wants to be with the Steelers,

14:15 but how much might come down to the financial part of it?

14:20 I mean everybody has a price.

14:21 He's a free agent, so he is free to approach this however he wants

14:26 to as far as when he signs and the amount that he signs for.

14:31 I think it'd be a different discussion, Evan,

14:33 if if there were other suitors out there who were interested in him.

14:37 I don't think that is the case.

14:38 I don't think the Arizona Cardinals rumors, speculation,

14:42 dot connecting that people were doing last week really has any legs.

14:46 So, I think it's pretty much Steelers or retirement for him.

14:49 Yeah.

14:49 Yeah, I agree with you.

14:50 All right, guys, we're going to head to our last break.

14:52 Give us a call 412-575-2600 or let your voice

14:57 be heard on our [music] question of the night.

15:00 We will talk more Steelers, maybe some Pirates right [music] after this.

15:07 Well, welcome back to the Nightly Sports Call.

15:09 I'm your host tonight, Cassidy Wood, joined alongside Brian Batko.

15:13 We're talking all things Steelers and of course Aaron Rodgers, but Brian,

15:17 one guy I think is a very big fan favorite around here just because

15:21 it was so emotional when he did

15:23 get drafted and that's of course Eli Heidenreich.

15:26 He got drafted late on day three and waited the entire

15:30 time at that draft stage to hear his name called.

15:33 I get goosebumps every time I talk about it cuz it's just like the cutest story.

15:37 Do you think that there's a world where he makes the final 53?

15:41 Yeah.

15:42 Yeah, absolutely.

15:43 I think if he, you know,

15:44 is a Swiss Army knife for that offense, catching passes, you know,

15:49 they're lining him up in the backfield right now

15:50 as as a running back in these very early stages.

15:53 So, yes, and you put special teams on top

15:56 of that, whether it's returning kicker punt coverage,

16:00 I think he can carve out a role.

16:01 And I what I thought was cool about today was

16:03 it wasn't just Eli Heidenreich from Navy and Mount Lebanon.

16:06 It was his high school and college teammate Alex Texada as well.

16:09 They want they helped Mount Lebanon win state championship.

16:13 What was it?

16:13 I guess five years ago, four or five years ago now.

16:16 And Texada was there as a tryout guy, not as a draft pick,

16:18 but might have been the last practice ever for them

16:22 after countless practices together going back to first or second grade.

16:26 So, that was pretty sweet.

16:27 I mean, that is so crazy.

16:29 We have we should probably look it up.

16:30 I don't know if there's ever been like a pair

16:33 of teammates that have started together in high school,

16:36 went off to play college ball together,

16:38 and then start practicing with an NFL team in in a rookie mini camp together.

16:42 Yeah, and it might only be two days for Texada.

16:44 And he was very realistic about that.

16:45 He's like, "Look, I'm just glad the Steelers

16:46 called and gave me an opportunity to show what I can do." Maybe they'll sign him

16:50 to a contract after this weekend, maybe they won't.

16:53 Usually one or two of the tryout guys get signed.

16:56 But either way, if if that was the end of the road for those two,

16:59 how cool that they got to do it one

17:00 last time for the team they grew up rooting for.

17:03 Oh my gosh, giving me chills all over again.

17:05 I love it.

17:06 Yeah, we will be playing paying very close attention over this next week, guys,

17:09 because there will be some contracts that probably roll

17:12 out as a fallout from this rookie mini camp.

17:15 So, definitely keep your eyes and ears

17:17 peeled to see who makes this 90-man roster.

17:21 The the roster heading into the preseason.

17:22 So, so crazy, Brian.

17:24 Training camp is like right around the corner, only 2 months away.

17:27 So.

17:27 And so is Mother's Day.

17:28 Happy Mother's Day.

17:29 Early Mother's Day to to my mom, mother-in-law, and of course my wife, Chelsea.

17:34 Yeah.

17:34 Shout out, Chelsea.

17:35 I'm glad we snuck that in.

17:36 Yes, happy Mother's Day.

17:38 All right, guys.

17:39 Thank you so much for joining us tonight,

17:41 and I'll see you next week, same place, same time.