The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t even gotten through the Aaron Rodgers experiment yet, and the next veteran quarterback idea is already making the rounds. After all, any quarterback who is a 2027 free agent will be linked to Pittsburgh.
This time, it’s Baker Mayfield. It isn’t the first time he’s been linked to Pittsburgh, and it won’t be the last.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio recently floated Mayfield as a potential fit for Pittsburgh after Rodgers retires following the 2026 season. Florio called Mayfield a “perfect fit” for the Steelers and said he’d “make a beeline” for him if Pittsburgh’s options were Will Howard, Drew Allar, and Mason Rudolph.
There’s also a convenient subplot coming this season. The Steelers travel to Tampa in October, which will mark the first time Mayfield has faced Pittsburgh since the Cleveland Browns ran him out of town in 2022.
With this, the conversation is probably only going to get louder.
It’s easy to understand the appeal at the surface level. Mayfield is younger than Rodgers, he’s got playoff experience, and he’s had legitimate high-end stretches with the Buccaneers.
But that’s also what makes the whole idea irksome.
The Steelers have spent years trying to patch the quarterback position together since Ben Roethlisberger retired. Mitch Trubisky didn’t work. Kenny Pickett didn’t work. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields became one-year attempts. Now Rodgers is in Pittsburgh for what he’s already said will be his final NFL season.
At some point, Steelers fans are allowed to be tired of QB rentals.
Baker Mayfield would create a familiar problem for the Pittsburgh Steelers
That was the point Still Curtain co-editor Shayne Kubas made on the “Still Curtain” podcast. The Mayfield idea only really works if something odd happens in Tampa.
“If he’s available, it means he probably didn’t play particularly well in 2026,” Kubas said. “If the Bucs are a good football team, and for them to be a good football team, it will have to mean that Baker Mayfield is probably a really good quarterback in ‘26; he’s probably just getting extended.”
That’s the part of this conversation that should give Steelers fans pause.
If Mayfield’s good, why would the Buccaneers let him leave in free agency? Quarterbacks who can stabilize a franchise rarely just walk out the door without a clear replacement in place. If Tampa Bay wins with him again, the most logical outcome is an extension, not a free-agent bidding war Pittsburgh can jump into.
And if Mayfield struggles, the question becomes why the Steelers would want to pay big money for another veteran coming off a down year?
Kubas pointed out that Mayfield could still command serious money unless his play completely collapses. After all, quarterbacks get paid, and Mayfield’s recent resume still carries weight. He threw for a career-best 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns in 2024 before taking a step back in 2025 with 3,693 yards and 26 touchdowns across 17 games.
That’s still enough to make him expensive.
“Baker’s probably still gonna command upwards of $40 million unless he’s terrible,” Kubas said. “He’d have to be truly awful to not get into that category with the way quarterbacks are being paid.”
That’s a dangerous middle ground for the Steelers. They could end up chasing a quarterback who’s too good for Tampa Bay to lose, or too expensive for Pittsburgh to justify.
Still Curtain editor Tommy Jaggi was even more direct about the bigger picture.
“Why would you want another retread quarterback who is past his prime and maybe has already played his best football, coming off a down year?” Jaggi said. “It just doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
That’s where this whole idea feels exhausting. Mayfield’s a better player than some of the quarterbacks Pittsburgh’s tried lately, but the process would feel painfully familiar. Another older veteran. Another short-term swing. Another attempt to squeeze one more run out of someone else’s quarterback.
“The feel is Steelers fans are all pretty fed up with this,” Jaggi said.
And they should be.
Pittsburgh can’t keep treating quarterbacks like a streaming service and expect different results. Rodgers may be the latest stopgap, but Mayfield shouldn’t be the next.
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