Most assume quarterback Aaron Rodgers will return to the Steelers for another season. One Steelers player seems to think Rodgers remains on the fence.
Appearing on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football, Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen put the odds at “50-50,” via Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com.
“Is he gonna be back? I don’t know,” Queen said. “But hell, I’ll take him. Dude is a great teammate, great quarterback. We all know him, we all love him. He knows how to win. We just have to be better for him.”
That may ultimately be the source of any hesitation. How much better will the Steelers be this year than last year?
Much of the AFC is in flux. The Steelers are in flux, too. And Rodgers arrived in large part because of the presence of coach Mike Tomlin. With Mike McCarthy now leading the team, who knows whether the Steelers will be better, or worse, than they were in 2025?
Then there’s the reality that there’s no other viable option for Rodgers, if he wants to play in 2026. Beyond the Cardinals, every team has a clear starter — or the clear candidates to win the starting job.
Some think Rodgers will commit to the Steelers next week, when Pittsburgh hosts the draft. He could show up on the stage, using the enthusiasm of having the draft in town to boost the enthusiasm of a fanbase that is lukewarm at best regarding another year with Rodgers.
He also could wait. If an eventual contender loses its starter, his phone could ring. He could swoop in, leading the way for one of the leaders of the pack. He could cap his career with a real playoff run, not a one-and-done disaster that ended with a pick-six.
That pick-six on his last throw of the season perhaps becomes the magnet for another run. Rodgers surely doesn’t want his final act in the NFL to be the thing he avoided better than most quarterbacks who have ever played.
Even with Queen pegging the odds at even, it feels like he’ll end up in Pittsburgh. With Rodgers, however, there’s no way of doing what he’ll do until he does it.
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