Pittsburgh Steelers fans want answers at the quarterback position. The fanbase wants to know who will be the quarterback of the future, but right now, most will settle for who's going to command the offense in 2026. Unfortunately, we didn't get that with Aaron Rodgers' latest comments.
On Wednesday, fans were anxious to tune into The Pat McAfee Show and see whether Rodgers answered the million-dollar question: Will he be the Steelers' quarterback for the 2026 season? But those who expected the 42-year-old vet to give a concrete response were left dissapointed.
When McAfee bluntly asked Rodgers if he wanted to share his thoughts on a potential decision, Rodgers quickly affirmed that there 'wont' be any big decisions today.
"I want to say to anybody on here who was expecting me to make some big decision, just shut up. Just turn it off now. Just leave..."
This wasn't the response fans were hoping for. Rodgers went on to explain that he has talked with Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Omar Khan, but there's been no talk of a deadline for a decision or progressive contract talks.
"I've talked to Mike [McCarthy], I've talked to Omar [Khan]. There's been no deadline that's been put in front of me. There's no contract offer or anything, so there's nothing that I have to debate between. I'm a free agent...
I think there's conversations to be had down the line, but right now, there hasn't been any progressive conversations."
The Pittsburgh Steelers can't let QB Aaron Rodgers leave them hanging ahead of free agency
At some point, the Pittsburgh Steelers have to stop with this song and dance. McCarthy and Khan are allowing the hopes of their 2026 season to rest on an aging quarterback who doesn't know if he wants to keep playing football. This is an unwise decision from Pittsburgh's leadership to wait on Rodgers.
With free agency beginning next week, the Steelers should be exploring all options on the market. Khan and the front office must do their homework on Malik Willis while considering Kyler Murray as a stopgap option upon his expected release.
Rodgers wasn't enough for the Steelers in 2025, so what makes them think he's the answer for 2026?
The long-time veteran, who has played for over two decades in the NFL, will turn 43 years old during the 2026 season. Meanwhile, Rodgers already showed an utter lack of mobility, and too often it looked like he was afraid to take hits. This led the aging quarterback to both the fastest time to throw and the shortest average depth of target among all qualifying quarterbacks last year.
If Steelers fans weren't out on Rodgers before, they are likely to be after leaving them hanging once again. At best, Rodgers would be a one-year, stopgap option who could get the team to play just well enough to enter the playoff spot.
At worst, Pittsburgh is prolonging the inevitable and wasting another year by going with an underwhelming veteran QB. Rodgers didn't make a decision about his NFL future on The Pat McAfee Show, but the Pittsburgh Steelers should make one now—it's time to move on from Aaron Rodgers.