The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 offseason was highlighted by three critical moves. Those would be the trade for DK Metcalf, the pursuit of Aaron Rodgers, and signing Darius Slay.

According to Josina Anderson, an NFL insider, there is a common thread in all of those moves. They are or were pushed by Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who has become the central figure in the team’s offseason.

“Tomlin was very adamant about getting DK Metcalf from what I hear, clearly he’s still at the table over his dice on Rodgers, now he has to bring it home,” Anderson wrote on X.

It is no surprise that Tomlin is the one pushing many of the team’s big moves. He is a tenured head coach and has a lot of say in what the organization does on a day to day basis. That includes free agency and the NFL Draft. There are few head coaches that are as involved in the team building and personnel evaluation part of the process like Tomlin.

Take all of the team’s moves, especially for veterans with pedigree, as a sign that Tomlin is in the seat making a lot of moves. He is the driving force behind the Steelers’ offseason moves and their future outlook, which will eventually be to land a franchise quarterback.

Until that can happen, Tomlin and the Steelers had to go back to the drawing board and make some changes. They are doing so by adding premium talents, even if some of those players are no longer in the prime of their careers.

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A group of pro-Palestinian protesters defied an order from their university to stop holding events when they held a march across the University of Pittsburgh campus on Saturday.

Pitt placed Students for Justice in Palestine on interim suspension this past week, saying members of their group improperly communicated with members of the university conduct hearing board. As part of the suspension, they would not be allowed to hold events.

“The administration, under a bunch of bureaucratic claims that make no sense, suspended SJP following a series of protests,” said Karim Safieddine, a Pitt PhD student who participated in Saturday’s protest. “There is nothing in particular that justifies the suspension.”

Organizers told KDKA-TV that they could not comment directly for legal reasons. During their march, they only briefly discussed the suspensions, saying the focus should be on Gaza.

“Students for Justice in Palestine are paying the price for raising their voices against impeding war, particularly as Trump is questioning, investigating, interrogating University administrations for tolerating affairs as such,” Safieddine said.

The American Civil Liberties Union supported the protesters, writing in a letter to the university chancellor that the university singled out the protest group for actions protected by the First Amendment. The letter said that if the group is not reinstated, it will take legal action.

“There’s definitely a singling out of SJP, given the affairs of the country today, the controversy of what’s happening in the region, more generally, and the role of the U.S. in it,” Safieddine said.

Protesters made a loop around Oakland, stopping only to let an ambulance pass and to form a circle at the corner of Forbes and Bouquet.

“We need a reminder that we’re not marching for us, we’re marching for the people of Gaza and the people of Palestine,” one of the protesters said.

KDKA-TV contacted school officials to find out if they planned to take further action due to the protest, but have not heard back. They said earlier in the week that their conduct proceedings are designed to uphold community standards and their code of conduct.

Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers seem destined for one another. Even with the New York Giants still involved after signing Jameis Winston, the Steelers and Rodgers are making progress in the right direction.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN says the Steelers’ pursuit of Rodgers is a little different than any other free agent they have gone after this year, and more than that, they are aggressively going after Rodgers.

Essentially, the team has not completely closed the door on Russell Wilson, but it certainly does not seem like there is any momentum in that direction. Instead, the Steelers are all in on Rodgers.

“He spent all day there … just more of a ‘get to know’, exploratory session,” Fowler said. “They weren’t talking hard numbers. They’ve already got a contract offer standing out to Rogers in place, so they talked about fit. He met with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, Mike Tomlin, owner Art Rooney, (and) GM Omar Khan. In fact, I was told the Steelers wanted to make this meeting happen so much, they skipped Michigan’s pro day yesterday, which if you know the Steelers, that’s a big deal. I checked with the team source that said they’re aggressively pursuing this. He’s number one on their radar”

The Steelers’ visit with Rodgers went well and both sides came out of thinking positively about each other, Adam Schefter reported. Earlier this week, the Steelers and Rodgers opened a line of communication with one another after things had largely been silent the week prior, and it seems Rodgers is nearing a decision.

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