If the Steelers don’t have Aaron Rodgers back at quarterback, don’t expect their Plan B to be very exciting, Ray Fittipaldo warns. While some fans may have visions of Malik Willis dancing in their heads, he doesn’t see that happening at all. At least not if his market comes in at anywhere near where projections land.
“I think it would be a less splashy type of player” than Willis, Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan when discussing the Steelers’ quarterback plans in the event Rodgers retires. “Just look at the way that they approached the Justin Fields thing. They acquired him in a trade, but it was a very reasonable contract, and they kind of knew what his worth was. They knew what it was then and what it was gonna be going forward. How can you even have any idea about that with Malik Willis?”
The Steelers have taken a cost-efficient approach at quarterback for several years since Ben Roethlisberger retired. In 2022, they signed Mitch Trubisky to a moderate, glorified backup contract. They then sought cheap labor in the first round by drafting Kenny Pickett, who would eventually start.
After acknowledging the Pickett mistake, the Steelers bargain hunted for their next quarterback. With the Broncos paying Russell Wilson a boatload of money not to play, Pittsburgh signed him on the cheap. After Pickett requested a trade, they traded for Fields on a favorable deal. And they recouped a higher draft pick for him in compensation when he signed with the Jets last year.
So if the Steelers aren’t going to go after Malik Willis if Aaron Rodgers retires, what else wouldn’t they do? That likely rules out any significant trade consideration, such as Mac Jones. I don’t suppose even somebody like Daniel Jones, assuming he can get healthy, would be on the table. Would they sign Joe Flacco, allowing him to complete the AFC North circuit? He’s game for it if they are.
In-house, the Steelers currently have two quarterbacks under contract for 2026. The one everyone is talking about is Will Howard, their 2025 sixth-round pick. For a late-rounder who didn’t make it to the preseason, he has sure generated a lot of chatter. It’s really far too much, quite frankly, and not even fair to the player. But when the other option is Mason Rudolph, who once pumped a few deep shots to George Pickens against bad teams as his claim to fame, I suppose I can understand the fascination.
Any way you slice it, the Steelers don’t seem to have a way to right their quarterback situation this year. Even if Aaron Rodgers retires, you’re talking about a one-year stopgap. Malik Willis being the most notable free agent is an indictment of the free-agent class. Ditto for Ty Simpson as the most plausible top quarterback available for them in the draft.
There is doing something for the sake of doing something, and there is doing something to improve the team. The former is always a possibility, but the latter is not. If the Steelers don’t have Aaron Rodgers back at quarterback, Malik Willis won’t fix their problems. Nor will anybody else outside of the organization. But if that’s the case, there’s no sense in spending money to rearrange the same furniture.
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