Aaron Rodgers’ Steelers Deadline Seems Set in Stone

ESPN's Adam Schefter echoed a similar sentiment during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Feb. 9.

"When they had the exit meetings with the Pittsburgh Steelers players, almost to a man, they all wanted Aaron Rodgers back and the one thing that was conveyed to me was how much respect and love there was from other teammates about Aaron Rodgers and how much they wanted him back and the idea at that point and time was to give him about a month," Schefter said.

"Give him some to think about things, process things, and in that time, they go and hire Mike McCarthy. Now they didn't hire Mike McCarthy to bring back Aaron Rodgers, but I don't think that hurts the situation at all. If anything it helps it."

With NFL Network's Tom Pelissero also reporting last week that the "odds are increasing" of Rodgers running it back in Pittsburgh, and that the hope is that he makes up his mind before free agency kicks off, the outlook on his situation has quickly become crystal clear.

Sigh of Relief?

Not that anyone who follows the Steelers in any fashion needs a reminder, but Rodgers' free agency dragged out all the way into early June last offseason before he signed a one-year deal ultimately worth $14.120 million, per Over the Cap.

There was never any doubt about where Rodgers would end up for a vast majority of his time on the open market once it became clear that the Minnesota Vikings weren't planning on pursuing him, which made his decision to delay joining Pittsburgh a bit puzzling from the outside looking in.

Regardless, he ended up leading the Steelers to their first AFC North title since 2020 while throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. It initially appeared as though his chances of returning were thrown out the window once Mike Tomlin stepped down as the franchise's head coach, but the hiring of McCarthy flipped the circumstances on its head.

Though nothing is finalized until the pen hits the paper, it sure seems like Rodgers is trending towards donning the black and gold for one more year and getting another chance to play for McCarthy.

With a deadline of sorts in place as well, the Steelers have potentially safeguarded themselves against a repeat of last year and thus could breath a sigh of relief should Rodgers be back in the fold at such an early stage of the offseason.

Pittsburgh, in all likelihood, wouldn't select a quarterback in a weak class at the position in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft as a result, allowing it to focus on other areas of need, and the same goes for building out the roster in free agency.

Again, it's not a 100 percent guarantee that Rodgers will play for Pittsburgh in 2026, but it'd be a bit of a surprise if that weren't the case.