Ben Roethlisberger recently made headlines for his critique of Lamar Jackson’s game during his latest podcast episode, but he also talked about another huge story that made headlines this year.
During the episode, the former Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback also clarified what exactly transpired between him and the 49ers during the 2022 season.
Roethlisberger revealed last month that the 49ers reached out to him following injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo. However, nothing ever materialized beyond that.
This week, on the Footbahlin podcast, Roethlisberger clarified how much contact he had with the Bay Area team.
“I’ll reiterate. It was them calling my agent just to gauge interest,” the former Pittsburgh Steelers great said. “There’s a local radio station — that we won’t mention — that likes to make stories out of nothing.”
“I’m not trying to defend anything, because they called, but again, I’ll reiterate, It was gauging interest.”
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In March, Roethlisberger admitted that the idea of joining a stacked and likely playoff-bound roster like San Francisco’s was intriguing.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say there was a small part of me that was intrigued, like, ‘Oh man, I could still do it,’ and prove to people that I could still play,” Roethlisberger said in March during a conversation on 105.9 The X. “At the end of the day, I just can’t see myself in anything other than black and gold.
“Even though they had a great chance, I think, to win a Super Bowl, it would’ve been hard for me to go try and win a Super Bowl anywhere else but here.”
Roethlisberger also weighed in on the report that the 49ers might be interested in Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers if a deal to send him to the New York Jets doesn’t happen.
“I know he’s been mentioned with them before,” Roethlisberger said on the recent podcast. “I could see it happening. They’ve got a great team, great defense, got a lot of weapons. He likes the boots under center, getting out, moving. He’d be great in that offense, obviously.”
The Niners moved forward with rookie Brock Purdy, who guided the team to the NFC Championship Game, but never got a chance to take them further because of an injury. The 49ers lost to the Eagles after Purdy sustained an elbow injury in the game that ultimately required off-season surgery.
A California native, Rodgers grew up cheering for the local team, especially Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young.
As for his current situation, we are still waiting if things will change between the Jets and Packers, but it seems things are at a standstill.
