The Aaron Rodgers—Pittsburgh Steelers saga is finally settled as the four-time NFL MVP inked a one-year, $13.65 million deal. The 20-year veteran took the field as a Steeler for the first time on June 10 at the mandatory minicamp, and Pittsburgh now looks set under center, at least for this season.
However, after 2026, the Steelers will again be in the hunt for a long-term answer at quarterback. Regardless of how Rodgers performs and how the Steelers’ season ends, one analyst predicts they will add a QB of the future in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Pittsburgh Steelers Predicted To Select A QB Early In 2026 NFL Draft
Pittsburgh fought to a 10-7 record and a Wild Card berth in 2024 despite pedestrian play from Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Wilson missed the first six games with a calf injury, and Fields led the team to a 4-2 start, throwing for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception before being relegated to 13 plays the rest of the regular season.
Wilson took over and got Pittsburgh to a 10-3 record before fading down the stretch. He threw for 2,482 yards, 16 scores, and five interceptions.
The Steelers lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round, and both Wilson and Fields are now playing elsewhere in 2025, which opened the door for Rodgers in Pittsburgh. However, the 10-time Pro Bowler is coming off one of his worst statistical seasons, throwing for 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 2024.
Rodgers looked better late in the season, but it was too late for the New York Jets’ playoff hopes by then. Pittsburgh will roll into 2025 with Mason Rudolph, Will Howard, Skylar Thompson, and Aaron Rodgers.
And while it’s all but guaranteed that it will be the latter who enters Week 1 as the starter, PFSN’s Mark Stolte believes he won’t have much impact on the team, and the Steelers could be looking at different options for 2026.
Stolte predicted the Steelers would end up with the No. 17 overall pick, but instead of using the pick on a quarterback, they will draft Clemson corner Avieon Terrell. The Steelers are instead predicted to find a franchise signal-caller with the 71st overall pick, selecting John Mateer to shore up the competition for the starting job.
“If they’re drafting 17th, it means Aaron Rodgers didn’t move the needle, and they’re still looking for a long-term answer at QB,” Stolte wrote.
Before transferring to Oklahoma earlier this year, Mateer put together a big 2024 season at Washington State. He threw for 261.6 yards per game in his first full season as a starting quarterback and finished 12th in the nation with 29 passing touchdowns.
Beating out the likes of Beck, Drew Allar, and Tyler Shough, he also rushed for 68.8 yards per game and scored 15 touchdowns.
Lets watch some John Mateer shall we?pic.twitter.com/FczXLi61sr
— Jay☝️ (@unfairsports) May 24, 2025
Mateer has a solid sense of timing, knows how to climb the pocket, and picks his spots to run. On top of that, he’s a really good athlete. He stayed under the radar last year in a dying Pac-12, but that’ll change in 2025.
Now at Oklahoma, he’ll have a much bigger platform — and if he keeps putting up numbers, his draft stock could soar, and so could the Steelers’ interest in him.
a true Pittsburgh Steelers fan, since the 70’s in the 2026 N.F.L. draft Steelers will have a lot of draft picks to use as draft capital to move in the draft to get the quarterback Omar Khan wants