While they were left without answers for several months this offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers finally got the commitment they were looking for from Aaron Rodgers in May. But he’s only signed up for one season, and the 42-year-old has already acknowledged that this will be his last ride.
The Steelers will eventually need to find another starting solution, and ideally not the league’s oldest player again. Yet, a quick fix could present itself next offseason.
Steelers Urged to Chase Former No. 1 Overall Pick
The Steelers like their QB room for the season ahead, with Rodgers, veteran backup Mason Rudolph, and the pair of young prospects in Will Howard and Drew Allar. But what about next year, when Rodgers and Rudolph’s contracts will have expired?
That’s when Mike Florio said, via “93.7 The Fan,” that the Steelers should make a hard play to sign Baker Mayfield away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The former No. 1 overall pick is entering the final season of a three-year, $100 million contract, and he’s been unable to find common ground in negotiations thus far.
“Mayfield has created his own deadline,” Florio said. “It’s not a real deadline. In his mind, if it’s not done by the start of training camp, we’re done talking. The challenge is, where does he land as it relates to veteran starting quarterbacks? The range begins in the low 20s and goes all the way up to the mid-60s. Where is Mayfield? Does it start with a four or does it start with a five?”
“You can make the argument that he’s as good or better than some guys who have gotten contracts that start with a five,” he added. “The Buccaneers may want it to start with a four, but Mayfield is an interesting cat, and I hope he ends up in Pittsburgh. Nothing against the Buccaneers, I just think he fits so well with the mindset and mentality.”
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It is a fascinating fit. Pittsburgh is known to be a blue-collar, hard-working town, and Mayfield has an edgy attitude as someone who’s often underestimated and/or overlooked.
Then, Florio went on to point out a very fascinating tidbit Mayfield recently recounted in Netflix’s ‘Quarterback’ special.
“When he didn’t get the starting job at Texas Tech, when Kliff Kingsbury decided to go with Davis Webb, instead of Mayfield, he just left,” Florio continued. “He enrolled in Oklahoma as a student. He wasn’t even on the football team; he just said, ‘See ya.’ Then, he ran into Bob Stoops, the coach of Oklahoma, and said, ‘Hey I’d like to try out for the football team.'”
“It’s just an amazing example of the extent to which this guy will bet on himself because he has, and he’s won,” Florio added. “That’s why I think, the Bucs gotta be careful because they think they’re gonna offer him more than anyone else. But if you give him freedom, then he has the right to take less from a team like the Steelers if he chooses to do so, just to prove a point to the Buccaneers.”
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Would Mayfield really pick the Steelers, essentially out of spite? It can’t be ruled out. He certainly doesn’t like to be slighted, and if he feels disrespected by Tampa Bay’s front office, then anything is possible, even him signing up to play in Pittsburgh instead.
While the Steelers have taken a chance on a pair of QB draft prospects in the past two years, there’s no guarantee that those prospects will develop. After all, Howard was still available in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and Allar was still on the board in the third round of the 2026 NFL Draft, with 75 other players selected before him.
The Steelers will continue working with their young prospects, hoping one of them can flash starter potential. Though in a perfect world, neither will see a snap of meaningful football in the upcoming season.
Should the Steelers position themselves to land Mayfield, he’d be a sizable upgrade, not just over the group of backups, but over the aging Rodgers, too. According to PFN’s QB Impact Metric, Mayfield posted an impact score of 74.4, ranking 22nd the league. In comparison, Rodgers had an impact score of 71.9, ranking 29th in the league.
