The Steelers can’t play this game with Aaron Rodgers again.
When it was announced that Aaron Rodgers would be appearing on The Pat McAfee Showon Wednesday, many expected to get an answer one way or another regarding his future with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his NFL future as a whole. Instead, what ensued was a a 90 minute nothing conversation about Mike McCarthy, Will Howard, and Love Is Blind, all sandwiched around McAfee and his cohosts practically tackling one another to brown-nose Rodgers like desperate teens hoping the homecoming queen might notice them – only this homecoming queen enjoys discussing deep theories on whether or not the government sneaks listening devices inside bags of pistachios.
The biggest takeaways from the hour and a half conversation are that Rodgers and the Steelers haven’t discussed a new contract, and that Rodgers wouldn’t say whether he would entertain joining another team. Above all, though, the Steelers look like absolute fools for setting themselves up for Part II of this saga.
It would be one thing if Rodgers had just put up a 40-touchdown season and the Steelers made a deep run into January – but none of those things happened. They were blown out 30-6 in the wild card round, and the offense was 2-of-14 on third down and finished with 175 yards. That’s not to say that Rodgers didn’t do good things in 2025 – he did, and it was the right decision to sign him- but not enough to warrant Pittsburgh playing this waiting game again.
What the Steelers should do is make it clear to Rodgers that he will not be back in 2026. There doesn’t need to be any sort of ill will – he did a lot of good in the year he spent with the team. His play was stellar, they won the division, and his teammates liked him so much that they reportedly made it known to the front office that they want him back. They can thank him for his contributions, but move on to younger options who have the potential of being the franchise quarterback. Kyler Murray is on the open market and can be signed to a very cheap deal – what team has enjoyed bargain quarterbacks more than the Steelers? Acquiring Anthony Richardson would be a more forward‑thinking decision than returning to Rodgers, as would drafting Drew Allar or seeing what you have with Will Howard, even if I have my hesitancies with the latter.
It’s not just a matter of Rodgers’ age and play that factors into this, the Steelers need to grow a spine and not be led on a leash for the second straight year. If they refuse to do so and just go about their offseason hoping they get a 2 A.M. “You up?” text from Aaron Rodgers, they will rightfully be called out for being a weak franchise that can’t make big boy decisions. The Steelers have gone from an organization that was a mainstay in the Super Bowl bubble to a franchise whose fans have to watch an annoying talk show to see if a quarterback will text back or lave them on read. If that doesn’t embarrass them, nothing will, and we’ll all be subjected to another offseason of Will He or Won’t He starring Aaron Rodgers.
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Category: General Sports
