The Pittsburgh Steelers shocked the fan base with several surprising roster cuts a little over 10 days ago, including several established veterans that seemed like locks to make the 53-man squad but were released possibly in favor of late-round rookies instead. That philosophy apparently doesn't sit right with Aaron Rodgers.
On a new episode of Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, Rodgers questioned the roster philosophy of keeping unproven, late-round rookies over veterans who earned their roster spots.
"Obviously, draft picks are valued more than others in certain places," Rodgers said. "There's certain guys on the team that didn't actually earn it. Their draft spot earned it. There's certain guys, got cut, that actually earned it, and maybe
[practice] squad guys. … You're basically saying, 'this guy's only on the roster because he's on a rookie contract, or we don't want to lose him because we drafted him fill-in-the-blank round. But this guy, who's on the [practice] squad, is a better player. That's why he's going to play in the game this week, even though he's on the [practice] squad.' That's always been backwards to me. …
"In my opinion, first, second, third round should be guaranteed on the roster because the money that's being put into them. After that, you should have to earn it. I think the fear is, 'If I cut a guy, is he going to get claimed?'
Rodgers went on to point out that there are over 1,000 players from around the league that are released as part of final roster cuts, but "very few guys get cut from a team and claimed."
Rodgers didn't name any veterans who earned their spot but lost it anyway, but he could've been referencing his former Packers teammate, defensive lineman Dean Lowry, or fan-favorite linebacker Elandon Roberts.
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This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers' Aaron Rodgers fires vague shot at rookies who didn't earn their roster spot
