SAN DIEGO — No to Shedeur Sanders in the draft, no to journeyman Mason Rudolph as the starter.

Yes to Aaron Rodgers at age 41.

No to improving the odds of losing up to a high slot in the 2026 NFL draft, though draftniks like the next quarterback class.

Yes to another winning season. Because we’re the Steelers. We don’t tear our home down to the studs. We remodel.

Footnote: Nine wins next season, and the Dallas Cowboys’ NFL record for consecutive non-losing seasons will belong to the Steelers. Take that, Jerry Jones.

And Rodgers? Why did he choose to join the Steelers this week?

He’s coming off an uneven year with the New York Jets. Like many old QBs, his aversion to taking necessary hits was glaring at times.

Attempting to sprint, he seemed a full step or two from his peak years.

Why not wait until the 17-game season matured, allowing him to if a good opportunity arose, as Philip Rivers did, when he and the talent-rich San Francisco 49ers considered a mid-season pairing?

It can’t because Rodgers believes he’ll have a great shot at getting a second Super Bowl ring.

The Steelers are below the rival Baltimore Ravens, who beat them by two touchdowns in January. Even the adults who wear Steelers pajamas would agree the Kansas City Chiefs and Bufalo Bills have much more firepower. Pennsylvania’s best team isn’t the Steelers. It’s the Philadelphia Eagles, who in December won the Keystone State game by two TDs.

Beyond DK Metcalf, 27, there’s no star power among Steelers receivers and running backs.

There is helium potential in young slot receivers Calvin Austin, 26, and Roman Wilson, 23.

Austin weighs 162 pounds. Wilson missed half his rookie year. There’s toughness and savvy within the rest of the group. Those are great traits. But those players are second-string types. Robert Woods, 33, Scotty Miller, 27. Ben Skowronek, 27.

Rookie Kaleb Johnson is a promising complement to running back Jaylen Warren, a pounder who can get outside. But the offense’s talent isn’t Eagles West. Not by a longshot.

Yes, the defense should be top 10 once again.

The simplest explanation seems best.

Rodgers still loves football and believes he’ll play it well. Yakking on podcasts won’t thrill him like quarterbacking an NFL team will. At $13.65 million, his Steelers salary is modest by his career standard.

Don’t believe the football fans who say they wish Rodgers would’ve retired.

The Steelers were dull a week ago. Other than pajama fans, no one wanted to watch them.

Tell the truth. If Rodgers is playing, you’ll tune into the Steelers.

Fans of better football should want coach Mike Tomlin and playcaller Arthur Smith to persuade Rodgers to give the team’s ground game a fair chance, even when it struggles.

Rodgers showed no patience in the Jets’ ground game last year. The Steelers’ line had a Grade-C season, but given the young group’s improved experience, improvement seems likely. The tackles are young former first-round draftees in Broderick Jones, 24, and Troy Fautanu, 24. Center Zach Frazier, 23, and right guard Mason McCormick, 25, combined for 31 starts as rookies.

Tight ends Pat Freiermuth, 26, and massive Darnell Washington, 23, can bring force. Metcalf is a physical wideout, more so than departed star George Pickens.

Here’s the best realistic scenario for the Steelers becoming more entertaining than last year’s 10-7 team, which was quarterbacked by Russell Wilson and Justin Fields: the running game, enhanced by Rodgers’ quick-pass skill and brilliance at managing the line of scrimmage, becomes adept in short-yardage efficiency (a flaw last year).

Johnson has a good rookie year. The offense complements the defense.

Pencil another 10-7 season, maybe 11-6. One playoff win, one playoff loss and Rodgers limps off the field.

A year from now, he becomes Elon Musk’s point man on Mars exploration.

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