Steelers Just Lost Out on Their Best QB Option

With all of their attention on Aaron Rodgers, who remains a free agent, the Steelers weren't in position to make a run at Murray. A full-out pursuit still may not have swayed his decision, but it raises the stakes even more for Pittsburgh moving forward.

Why Not Signing Murray is a Big Loss for the Steelers

This offseason in particular, there are no slam-dunk quarterback solutions for the Steelers.

The crop of prospects at the position in the 2026 NFL Draft is noticeably weak outside of presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, and the options on both the trade and free agent markets are widely uninspiring.

With that being said, however, Murray was arguably the most intriguing of the bunch, certainly more so than Rodgers.

One of the larger concerns with Murray, beyond his height, is his durability. He played in a combined 19 games between 2022 and 2023 after tearing his ACL late in the first of those two years while also suffering a foot injury in Week 5 this past season that kept him out for the rest of the year.

He’s still a threat with his legs, though, evidenced by his 572 yards and five touchdowns on the ground in 2024. Additionally, Murray has a relatively high floor and plenty of experience with 87 starts to his name with 121 passing touchdowns, 60 interceptions, 20,460 yards and a 67.1 percent completion rate.

It's not crazy to think that if he had come to Pittsburgh, he would've thrived in Mike McCarthy's offense while throwing to the likes of DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr. and Pat Freiermuth while having Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle in the backfield.

Though Murray, once considered a franchise signal caller in Arizona, has regressed over recent years, the potential to reemerge as an above-average player is still there.

He would've come at a low cost for the Steelers as well since the Cardinals owe him $36.8 million in 2026, as Schefter noted, making it a low-risk, high-reward type of move.

Pittsburgh won't be able to reap the potential benefits, though, as Murray is instead headed to the Vikings while the former has all of its eggs in the Rodgers basket.

How Steelers Will Proceed

Pittsburgh likely isn't reeling after watching Murray sign with the Vikings, as there were no indications that the organization made him a priority in any sense of the word.

Again, however, that stance comes back to the Steelers waiting on Rodgers to make a decision for the second offseason in a row.

Earlier this offseason, general manager Omar Khan seemed confident that the saga would reach a timlier conclusion this go-around.

The timeline keeps getting pushed back, however, with NFL Network's Ian Rapoport stating on Good Morning Football that Rodgers was planning on informing Pittsburgh of his next steps, "some point before the draft with plenty of time," before adding, "likely end of this month."

The prior expectation had been that Rodgers would have already made up his mind at this point, but it's no dice on that front.

The likeliest outcome remains that Rodgers will once again ink a one-year deal with Pittsburgh and reunite with McCarthy. He was solid this past season, throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions as the team won the AFC North for the first time since 2020, but he's another year older and doesn't have a ton of upside at this stage of his career.

If Rodgers were to ever opt not to return to the Steelers, than 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard would potentially become the favorite to start behind center, though it would be dependent on whether or not another veteran and/or rookie enters the fray.

Regardless of how the situation plays out, though, Pittsburgh missed out on its best chance to make a serious playoff run this year by not landing Murray.