The 2026 NFL Draft is behind us, and still, there has been no sign of Aaron Rodgers' return to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This week, the Steelers placed the Unrestricted Free Agent tender on Rodgers, giving them some protection toward the compensatory formula if he tries to spurn them for another team before July 22.
Despite general manager Omar Khan and team president Art Rooney II insisting they would have an answer from Rodgers by this point, it's been all crickets from the Steelers regarding Rodgers' status. Now one NFL analyst is begging Pittsburgh to show a deeper sense of urgency.
ESPN analyst and former general manager of the New York Jets, Mike Tannenbaum, joined The Pat McAfee Show and made it clear that Pittsburgh's leadership must get an answer from Rodgers pronto.
"I'll tell you what: to me, there should be a sense of urgency. He's going to be forty-three in December... If he is there, that means everyone else has to be there. He knows the offense because he's been with [Mike] McCarthy a long time in Green Bay, but there are players like a Rico Dowdle, a Michael Pittman that they would benefit from being around Aaron.
And I'm assuming that this is if and not when, but if I was Omar Khan or Mike McCarthy... boy, let's get this thing signed and get rolling."
Don't we all wish this was the case.
Aaron Rodgers keeps holding the Pittsburgh Steelers hostage
Rodgers can say all he wants that this isn't a hostage situation and he's just taking his time to make a decision, but it certainly feels like the 42-year-old quarterback has the Steelers' leadership by the collar and is pulling them along for the ride.
He's not good enough at this stage of his career to get away with that.
Instead of being strung along by an aging QB who was afraid to hand the football off and take hits last season, Khan and Rooney must decide to turn the page. We can't expect 2026 third-round pick Drew Allar to be the answer for this team, but running it back with Rodgers is likely to only result in another season that falls short of playoff success.
While the Steelers filled major positional needs in the NFL Draft, they also did so by selecting raw players in the first three rounds like Max Iheanachor, Drew Allar, and Daylen Everette—players who might not make significant impacts in 2026.
Khan picked a direction by adding young, raw talent to build around—and Aaron Rodgers should not be a part of that. Forget urgency; the Pittsburgh Steelers should end this hostage situation immediately and turn the page on the aging quarterback.
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