All eyes turned to Pittsburgh Steelers longtime head coach Mike Tomlin following their dispiriting Wild Card exit. Questions about his future instantly arose after the game, though he chose to focus on the present before ultimately deciding to step down from the team.
However, the uncertainty in Pittsburgh goes well beyond Tomlin's departure. Several other moving parts must be addressed as Steeler Nation waits to see what happens next with him. A long offseason lies ahead, with free agency right around the corner.
Pittsburgh currently has 25 players set to hit the open market in the coming months, including 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Despite his postgame comments, the broadcast made it seem like he's retirement-bound toward the end of the Steelers' 30-6 playoff loss to the Houston Texans. Yet, somehow, losing him may only be the beginning of a significant roster turnover.
Tomlin aside, for better or worse, Rodgers and these three contributors won't be back in Pittsburgh in 2026.
Aaron Rodgers headlines list of Steelers who won't return to Pittsburgh in 2026
Aaron Rodgers, QB
Whether Rodgers should hang up the cleats or if he'll call it a career are two different questions that may have the same answer: yes.
There's no doubt that Rodgers' all-time great arm remains as live as ever. He can still make passes that few, if any, signal-callers in the NFL are capable of. Nevertheless, his waning pocket presence limited the Steelers' offense throughout the campaign.
Rodgers' average time to throw this season (2.58) was the lowest it's been since Pro Football Focus first began tracking this data in 2011. That resulted in two Steelers running backs, Kenneth Gainwell and Jaylen Warren, yielding at least 40 catches, which is impressive. Nevertheless, funneling targets to the backfield isn't a recipe for success, to say the least.
The Steelers may not have the means to upgrade from Rodgers, though they will have options. Tua Tagovailoa, Kyler Murray, Geno Smith, and Kirk Cousins could all be on the move. Pittsburgh can also draft a passer if it wants to go that route.
Cole Holcomb, LB
Holcomb's outlook with the Steelers ultimately comes down to his health (or lack thereof) and 2024 third-round pick Payton Wilson. The combination of being unavailable and having a rising young replacement lurking in the shadows is bad news, especially with Tomlin gone.
The Tomlin-led Steelers have become notorious for trying to squeeze juice out of washed-up veterans rather than developing in-house talent. Holcomb and fellow linebacker Malik Harrison benefited from this in 2025, which in turn hurt Wilson's playing time.
Nevertheless, with Tomlin out of the picture, a youth movement could be upon the Steelers. That means unleashing Wilson and youngsters, including one with the same last name who will be mentioned below, at the expense of Holcomb and others.
Jabrill Peppers, S
Oddly enough, the two safeties the Steelers added midseason came courtesy of the New England Patriots. Little did the defensive backs know they'd effectively be battling for playing time, a competition that Kyle Dugger apparently won, leaving Peppers in the dust.
Peppers quickly went from operating as a rotational secondary piece for the Steelers to being relegated to special teams duties following Dugger's arrival. That alone should tell us how Pittsburgh feels about the former. Then, to make matters worse, the latter proved to be a difference-maker at times.
Adam Thielen, WR
Remember when we said Tomlin's Steelers are infamous for preferring declining vets to inexperienced alternatives with upside? Perhaps no one embodied that notion more than Thielen, who looked to have very little, if any, gas left in the tank with Pittsburgh.
Thielen's sentimental homecoming to the Minnesota Vikings this year was short-lived because the club ostensibly felt that he had little to offer. They waived him on Dec. 1, and the Steelers claimed him the next day, which rendered 2024 third-round wideout Roman Wilson irrelevant.
Wilson logged just nine total snaps after Thielen came to town. Simply put, that's inexcusable, especially for a squad that needed any form of playmaking and pass-catching potential.
Across five games with the Steelers (excluding the playoffs), Thielen caught 11 passes for 117 scoreless yards. That's who Pittsburgh elected to deploy as their No. 2 receiver over Wilson.