PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Are the Steelers looking at the present, and the future, likely bringing back Aaron Rodgers this year?
New Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy told KDKA’s Bob Pompeani ‘that’s the plan’ when asked about having success again with Rodgers as they did in Green Bay. They won Super Bowl XLV as Rodgers made some incredible throws against a Steelers defense with multiple Pro Bowlers.
Rodgers was a two-time NFL MVP under McCarthy. He threw 337 touchdowns to 79 interceptions as the starter with the Greenfield native. Rodgers had a winning season in all but two years, including their final year together at 6-9-1 when he threw for 4,442 yards with 25 TD to two interceptions.
There might still be magic left between them, but could the Steelers also be thinking long term with this decision?
Winning now
Bringing back the 42-year-old might make the Steelers a contender again. They won 10 games and the AFC North in 2025 and were in a one-point game in the fourth quarter with Houston before it went sideways in a hurry in the Wild Card round.
Easy to argue the offense was the issue in this playoff loss.
What made this season so painful—it was a postseason without Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson (Steelers knocked him out) and Joe Burrow.
Those three are back in the mix with the emergence of Drake Maye and Bo Nix, the improvement from Trevor Lawrence. The Chargers were ravaged by injuries at running back, how does that change them next year? Plus, Josh Allen remains with a new coach and Houston’s defense is still world class.
The Steelers believe they can win a Super Bowl even going through that gauntlet just to get to the title game.
Still looking forward
If they don’t win with Rodgers next season, the Steelers fallback is the draft. They are potentially walking into a deep and talented quarterback group in 2027. NFL Draft expert Todd McShay said it should be one of the greatest QB draft classes ever.
Even if they would accomplish their goal and win a title, or advance to compete for one, there could be a franchise quarterback who drops to late in the first round in 2027. As either way the team would still need a quarterback.
The 2027 draft group includes Dante Moore (Oregon), Julian Sayen (Ohio State), Darian Mensah (Miami), Arch Manning (Texas), Jayden Maiava (USC), LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina), Sam Leavitt (LSU), John Mateer (Oklahoma) to name a few of those on most experts list in their top 10s. A couple of those stayed in school to improve their games and draft status.
Add into that, what will a year working with Indiana’s Curt Cignetti do for transfer quarterback Josh Hoover? He helped Fernando Mendoza (Cal transfer) likely become the number one pick in this year’s draft. There will be others who will emerge from obscurity, while some fall.
It’s worth noting that at this time last year, the 2026 quarterback draft class was expected to be outstanding because of guys like Manning and Sellers. So many had down years and a few dealt with injuries, none worse than Penn State’s Drew Allar. Nothing is a guarantee.
You don’t need the Steelers general manager to tell you that it’s imperative for the organization to find the next franchise quarterback. They’ve never won a title without one. Omar Khan said whether its 2026 or 2027, they need to find that next leader.
By keeping Rodgers and filling other needs via the draft and free agency (ninth most cap space in NFL) in 2026, are they actually setting the table for rookie quarterback to walk in with a ready-made offense in 2027?