All eyes are on the city of Pittsburgh for the kickoff of the 2026 NFL Draft. But while every football fan wants the draft to be the focus, the Pittsburgh Steelers can't shake the looming Aaron Rodgers questions.
General manager Omar Khan and team president Art Rooney II were hoping to have an answer from the 42-year-old quarterback by the NFL Draft on whether he wished to continue playing football. Unfortunately, the draft is here, and there's still not a whisper from Rodgers. Now it looks like the deadline has been pushed back further.
During pre-draft festivities, Steelers wide receiver and 2026 trade acquisition Michael Pittman Jr. spoke on Rodgers at the 2026 Toyota NFL Draft Flag Football Training Camp at the Ellis School in Pittsburgh. Video from FanSided's Josh Yourish showed that Pittman is just as in the dark as fans are about Rodgers' 2026 playing status.
"Yeah, so I've worked out with him in the past. Then I saw him about a month-and-a-half ago. We didn't really talk football. We were kind of just chilling. I didn't want to put extra pressure on him, and I honestly don't think I could convince him either way...
I mean, I think he wants to play, but I don't really know. Aaron is a mysterious guy. He's going to do whatever he thinks is right, and if that's coming back and playing, that's great, and if it's not, we have two other guys."
The two other guys Pittman was referring to are Mason Rudolph and Will Howard, the former of which is expected to be the Steelers' QB1 for offseason programs if Rodgers doesn't return.
The Pittsburgh Steelers can't be strung along by QB Aaron Rodgers any longer
Just like last year, it feels like Rodgers is holding the Steelers hostage—and they have nobody to blame but themselves. Though the veteran aided Pittsburgh to a winning record last season and put up respectable raw numbers, the advanced stats told a different story.
Rodgers was both timid with the football and wildly inefficient, with the shortest time to throw in the NFL and the lowest air yards per pass attempt among qualifying quarterbacks. This is no longer the quarterback who should be dictating the direction of the organization.
Just as Pittman doesn't know Rodgers' status for 2026, it makes you wonder if Rodgers himself doesn't yet know what he wants to do.
The Steelers are expected to take a quarterback in the draft this year, and that selection could come as early as the third round. While a rookie certainly isn't going to impact Rodgers' status, he may look to see which direction the team takes in the NFL Draft before making any final decisions.
In reality, this could be as simple as the aging veteran wanting more vacation time in the offseason. Perhaps Rodgers knows that he intends to show up and sign a contract by mandatory minicamp, so he's content stringing the team along for now.
Either way, the fact that starting Steelers receiver Michael Pittman Jr. is left in the dark makes you wonder if anyone in the organization has a clue what's going on with Aaron Rodgers right now.
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