It is still not expected Aaron Rodgers will join a team other than the Steelers this offseason. If he does, however, Pittsburgh will be in line for draft compensation.
Rodgers has received the UFA tender from the Steelers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Such a move is rare in the NFL, although there were two examples from the 2025 offseason. The Browns applied the UFA tender to Elijah Moore while the Chargers did the same with J.K. Dobbins.
Both players wound up signing with other teams, but they were factored into Cleveland and Los Angeles’ compensatory pick formulas along the way. The same will be true of Rodgers and the Steelers. With an outside deal not likely in his case, however, today’s news essentially serves as a guarantee Rodgers will either play for Pittsburgh in 2026 or retire. The team will have exclusive negotiating rights with the future Hall of Famer if he remains unsigned beyond July 22 while also being able to match any offer sheets which are signed prior to that date.
For the second year in a row, the Steelers have gone deep into the spring without certainty atop their QB depth chart. Rodgers’ one-year deal in 2025 seemed at first to set him up for retirement. Instead, the four-time MVP has left the door open to a 22nd NFL season, with Pittsburgh once again willing to accommodate him. Owner Art Rooney II aimed to have a firm commitment from Rodgers by mid-February, but that soft deadline passed. Shortly before the draft, it was learned clarity on this front would not emerge.
Pittsburgh went through this weekend’s event without Rodgers officially being in the fold. With veteran Mason Rudolph and 2025 sixth-rounder Will Howard already in the mix, the team selected Penn State’s Drew Allar in the third round. None of those passers will be seen as a threat to Rodgers if/when he arrives, but today’s procedural move further underscores the uncertainty surrounding this unique situation. Rodgers’ next campaign will begin at the age of 42, and a new Steelers accord would see him reunite with head coach Mike McCarthy.
The UFA tender is valued at 110% of a player’s 2025 salary. In Rodgers’ case, that means he will collect just over $15MM next season in the event he suits up for the Steelers. The team’s OTAs are set to begin on May 18, with mandatory minicamp taking place June 2-4. The matter of whether or not Rodgers will be under contract by that point remains a storyline to follow.
They should’ve drafted beck and be done with this scrub
They should have made a different plan, but no one should have drafted Beck higher than the first pick of the third round.
Beck is refuse. I don’t think Allar is any good either, but at least he has upside.
At this point, it’s laughable. Two years before he retired, they knew Roethlisberger was in decline. They likely knew Rudolph wasn’t the answer—never developed the kid anyway. In all these years, it’s been the Keystone Cops approach. Or Three Stooges.
I thought it was a delusional owner all this time. Bringing in retreads and insisting they were on the cusp of the Super Bowl. Having watched the draft it’s clear they have a GM who’s out of his depths, too
You know your organization is in trouble when you start looking more dysfunctional than the Pirates 🙂
There is a crazy dichotomy in the Pittsburgh Steelers fan base the last 10 years or so.
Camp A: Love Tomlin and the organization and tout the never has a losing season stat and saying “we’re always in the hunt”.
Camp B: Hated Tomlin and quoted the “Finish middle, draft middle, stay middle” line and wanted change.
Then they hired a coach that NO ONE wanted to hire and gave him FIVE YEARS. Who has 1 playoff win in his last 7 years coaching. He is essentially a carbon copy of Tomlin. Similar wining % career. Won a superbowl early followed by YEARS of middling and underperforming teams.
These two are the NFL equals to Doc Rivers. Win early and trade on past performance.
All the fanboys playing Sportsball Mashup must get all their news from tabloids, talk radio, and ESPN.
You have to remember who the coach was,tomlin. And we all know he didn’t want a yiung qb to develope. So I agree with you. Tomlins gone but artie still relishes having a 43 year old doormat to lead them to the promised land.
Just start Drew Allar…. Take the lumps and give him experience….hes the best of the 3 under contract
Really easy to see this coming, Rodgers is basically done as a NFL QB he is running on extreme fumes. Pittsburgh made this bed with Rodgers, they knew he was not going to lead them to a Super Bowl, they were desperate to get a QB and their bench was empty. Now they take Allar and where does this lead them, will they be in on the verge of a playoff team this season with Allar leading them or will they be on the list looking for a QB in the 2027 draft. The Steeler fans have to be saying where is our franchise QB it has been a few years since Big Ben. Does this Steeler management really have what it takes to get a franchise QB.
I’m a little confused about this respect for Allar beyond having the physical skills. I’ve watched countless Penn State games. What have I been missing? Because he hasn’t shown anything in big games other than the USC game that would lead me to believe he can jump right in
His drafting is somewhat humorous though. McCarthy spent the last few months talking up Howard in much the same way which now sounds like lip service.
Rudolph wouldn’t provide much of a drop off from what Rodgers offers now. The mushy middle in draft order again. It’s like Groundhogs Day.
This is a franchise that has an owner and front office that is delusional about where it is and has routinely passed on guys who probably could have learned, grown and been the answer at the position in favor of a revolving door of retreads.
Your first paragraph is spot on. Not a Penn State fan but live in PA so by nature end up seeing a lot of their football. He never once looked good in big games against legit opponents and is probably some of the reason Franklin got fired as a result. Terry Smith can blame the offensive structure as much as he wants in a recent interview, and you can blame lack of WR talent if you want, but he did nothing to elevate the offense.
Regardless, it’s a win-win situation drafting him cause odds are he gets us closer to a lottery pick (and a higher chance of a legit 1st round QB) if he plays more than a couple of games, but I will happily eat my words if he pans out cause Rodgers needs to just go away. Howard was only talked up in the event he actually has to play, which probably increases by the day. Rodgers will block progress and development and nothing will help build back some culture than the pains of reality. Because honestly, the front office sucks and the current Rooney thinks he’s his dad. Reminder they did zero to address an absurdly bad run defense.
Agree 100%.
Hard for me to dismiss Roethlisberger in all of this. Colbert saw the need to draft his heir apparent towards the end of his career but instead of mentoring and understanding a franchise must prepare for life after its HoF QB is done, he took it as an affront and ignored the kid. I’m not saying Rudolph would have become Love or Mahomes, but his development was seriously slowed. You’ll have to pardon me when he makes comments on QB’s now on his podcast.
Like you, I’d rather they go with one of the younger guys. Try them both. Maybe one will shine. If not, then you’re in position to draft a promising kid and try again.
But waiting on Rodgers yet again is ridiculous. Surprised they can’t feel the embarrassment in all of this
enough from the clown
Agreed. This sounds to me like retribution or pay back time from the Steelers to Roger’s. I wonder if they’re just pissed he hasn’t given them an answer and this is there way of sticking it to him.
So tired of this diva. He peaked year’s ago. I like this move by the Steelers. I’d totally f*ck with this clown from here on out for the sport of it.
This is a negotiating tactic with Rodgers and nothing more. The only other team that realistically could use him is Arizona. So he basically signs the tender and gets a very modest raise or he retires. He has no negotiating leverage for his next contract anymore. Its a salary cap management move and nothing more.
Allar Nothing
What a miserable & failed offseason. Rather than getting a young, fresh new HC; they decided to roll w/ a Mike T clone. Win in the regular season & lose in the playoffs. Should have traded back for next year’s draft and looked for a real QB then. You get what you deserve, Pitt.
Teams are very hesitant to trade their 2027 1st. Of the trades that happened in this year’s first round, none of them involved first rounders next year. All these teams know it’s a better class so they weren’t going to give that up for anyone in this one.
Still should have traded back and gotten more picks for next year then. Add capital for a move up. But hanging on to Rodgers means another little above .500 and no chance at any of the QB’s next year. It’s time for them to admit to a real rebuild and lose badly for 1 season.
Rooney continues to preach to the choir about the Steelers never rebuilding and that they compete for championships. That’s a nice dream.
You’re right about the mushy middle either Rodgers or Rudolph will provide. And again, I always have doubts about pundits telling us about deep QB classes This year was supposed to be better than last and it wasn’t. Who knows what we’ll see
I thought their draft was a train wreck this year, sitting timidly with 12 picks and failing to get splash players of more ability.
Just retire already, you selfish SOB. Give a younger QB a chance.
Are they going to carry four quarterbacks on the active roster, or is Will Howard just hype? I can’t see Mason Rudolph taking a practice squad job, but I also think Howard would get claimed if cut even though he was a late round pick. The highest drafted rookie I can remember getting cut was 4th rounder Tyler Wilson with the Raiders in 2013.
Aaron Rodgers has made a habit of holding teams hostage over the years. At 42 years old, I would like to think that teams would have had enough of this, and Move Forward. At this stage of his Career, he should be viewed as no more than a Stop Gap starter until a team with a young Quarterback is ready to take over.