When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Aaron Rodgers last year, many believed it would be the legendary quarterback’s final season. That might not be the case, though. While Rodgers hasn’t made an official decision yet, new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy has been in contact with him. McCarthy hasn’t ruled out the four-time MVP returning. Some fans might not want the Steelers to re-sign Rodgers, but former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson thinks that it’s the only thing Pittsburgh can do.
“You know damn well he’s coming back because there is no answer at the position,” Johnson said recently on the Nightcap podcast. “Even if he’s not the same Aaron Rodgers, McCarthy is familiar with him. He had him at Green Bay.
“What answer do you have at that position to say, ‘We can move on for Aaron Rodgers, and he doesn’t have to come back.’ Will you rely on a 42-year-old quarterback? You don’t have a choice. Just to even compete in this NFL, we’ve seen it all season, you need a quarterback. And sometimes, age really doesn’t matter depending on who it is.”
The Steelers have other options at quarterback, including two currently on their roster and candidates in free agency and the draft. However, none of them are clearly better than Rodgers.
If the Steelers felt confident in Mason Rudolph as their starter, they wouldn’t have pursued Rodgers last year. Rudolph is a fine backup, but he doesn’t make the Steelers a playoff threat. Likewise, Will Howard was a sixth-round pick last year. He hasn’t played in the NFL yet, so there’s no telling what he can do. The Steelers can’t just hand him the starting job.
The free agent pool doesn’t look great, either. Malik Willis has gotten a lot of buzz, but he’s not very proven. He’s only started six games in four years, and half of those came in his rookie year in 2022.
There aren’t many better options after Willis. Daniel Jones had a promising 2025 season, but it got cut short due to a torn ACL. Therefore, he’ll likely miss time in 2026, which probably takes him off the Steelers’ radar. After that, the best free agent quarterbacks are names like Joe Flacco and Marcus Mariota.
The quarterback talent in the draft looks similarly disappointing. Fernando Mendoza is a good prospect, but he’s not going to fall to the Steelers. There isn’t another obvious signal caller who the Steelers could draft that would be an immediate upgrade over Rodgers.
Is re-signing Rodgers ideal? No, but it’s not the Steelers’ worst option. He wasn’t the team’s biggest problem on offense. There’s a chance that he could have a better year if the Steelers make some improvements to their offense.
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