We’re less than a week into the NFL’s new league year — and less than one week into official free-agent signings — and it’s already abundantly clear that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers appear to be the best remaining option for one another.
The only question now: Does Rodgers want to tack another year onto his NFL career?
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Aside from actually getting that answer — which will be on Rodgers’ timeline — the league’s free agency landscape and some of the moves in Pittsburgh make it clear that new head coach Mike McCarthy is being tasked with winning now. That tracks with the read of several teams and NFL agents at the league’s annual scouting combine in late February, when the quarterback market was being calculated with the presumption that the 62-year old McCarthy and the Steelers were looking at two options: Running it back in 2026 with Rodgers as the starter, or pivoting into a pursuit of veteran Kirk Cousins while also leaving the door open for 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard to make a run at the starting job in training camp.
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Now in mid-March, those two avenues appear to be squarely on the table in Pittsburgh — with Rodgers having been in communication with McCarthy this offseason, while Cousins remains on the free-agent market waiting for options. It feels very similar to last year’s offseason for the Steelers, who patiently waited for Rodgers to make a commitment while other quarterback voids were filled across the league. All the while, Pittsburgh moved forward in free agency and draft preparation, focusing on players who could help the team win now rather than lay the foundation for a reboot.
The signing of free-agent cornerback Jamel Dean and trade for wideout Michael Pittman Jr. underscored that same design last week. Dean will turn 30 in October and Pittman’s 29th birthday is in the same month, adding two more experienced veterans to a roster that is already laden with them. Both fit another year of a Rodgers window, as well as the Steelers’ hopes of maximizing the tail end of the prime years of edge rusher T.J. Watt, who will be 32 in October.
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Another telling sign of the door being wide open for Rodgers: the Steelers never materialized in any pursuit for Kyler Murray (who signed with the Minnesota Vikings), Tua Tagovailoa (who landed with the Atlanta Falcons) Malik Willis (who signed with the Miami Dolphins) or Geno Smith (who was traded from the Las Vegas Raiders to the New York Jets).
Instead, the Steelers have stood pat with only Mason Rudolph and Howard on the roster, with Cousins on the back burner.
Like last year, we’re waiting for word on Aaron Rodgers and whether he’s going to play for the Steelers. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect / REUTERS)
For all intents and purposes, those moves have bricked up the starting QB spots for nearly every team in the NFL. With the Raiders expected to select Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick in the draft, the only other teams that could still be poking around the QB market are the Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns. But it appears the Cardinals are leaning into another year with Jacoby Brissett — who took the job last season from Murray — and that the Browns will have a competition between veteran Deshaun Watson, and second-year players Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
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For Rodgers, that means the Steelers have the only job left, barring some kind of jaw-dropping left turn toward the Cardinals, who do have Rodgers’ former assistant coach Nathaniel Hackett serving as their offensive coordinator. But seeing Hackett and Rodgers reunite in Arizona would be a stunner, especially given Rodgers’ positive experience with the Steelers last season and his previous stint with McCarthy with the Green Bay Packers.
One league source who has ties to this offseason’s quarterback market offered one interesting possibility of a twist: That the Steelers could get impatient and instead be satisfied going with Howard, Rudolph and and Cousins as a veteran addition, leaving Rodgers to take a step back and see if another opportunity opens up in training camp or even early in the regular season — effectively creating a situation similar to veterans like Joe Flacco and Philip Rivers stepping into starting roles in recent years. The source added that would be the least likely development for Pittsburgh and Rodgers at this point.
“I think it’s still Pittsburgh or retirement, which is what it’s always been [for Rodgers],” the source said. “But I also wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a little more push from the Steelers than there was last offseason. I don’t think ownership wants to go down that road again after the draft.”
In early March, Rodgers told “The Pat McAfee Show” that there hadn’t been any deadline set by the Steelers and that he had no immediate plans to make a decision on his future.
“There’s been no deadline that’s been put in front of me,” Rodgers said. “There’s no contract offer or anything. So there’s nothing that I’m having to debate between.”
