After a 10-7 season and losing in the Wild Card round against the Houston Texans, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in quarterback limbo while awaiting a decision from Aaron Rodgers.
While the Steelers await a decision from Rodgers, NFL Reporter Brooke Pryor shares the team’s contingency plans if he doesn’t return.
How The Steelers Will Pivot Around Aaron Rodgers
The season before signing with the Steelers, Rodgers played his first real season with the New York Jets. In PFSN’s NFL Quarterback Impact Metric (QBi), he finished the season ranked 29th with an impact score of 71.5 and a letter grade of C-. At the same time, the Steelers struggled offensively with quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
After an unsuccessful tenure with the Jets, Rodgers took time to reflect on continuing his playing career before signing with the Steelers well into the offseason. The former MVP was brought in as a presence to help meld the Steelers’ offense.
During the 2025 season, Rodgers completed 65.7% of passes for 3322 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. In PFSN’s QBi, he ranked slightly worse than the year before, with an impact score of 71.4 and a letter grade of C-.
However, the offense ranked in the top half of the league in PFSN’s NFL Offensive Impact Metric, finishing with an impact score of 76.4 and a letter grade of C.
Yet, Rodgers only signed a one-year contract with the team, so the 42-year-old is now a free agent. It looks like a similar situation to last year, where he’ll take an extended period to make a decision. However, it’s revealed that the team has a few contingency plans in place in case he doesn’t return.
“One of their contingency plans in Kirk Cousins, obviously now off the board because he is in Vegas. They do have Will Howard on their roster, and Mike McCarthy has been so incredibly high on what he likes about the sixth-round pick.
He even said this week that if it was him, Will Howard would not have been on the board there. He also gave us some insight into quarterback traits that he likes, because I think it’s a very real possibility that they could draft a quarterback… maybe a Carson Beck, Drew Allar, Garrett Nussmeier, another option.”
What happens if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t return next season? 👀@bepryor breaks down the Steelers’ contingency plans ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/rVOyCxr26L
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) April 3, 2026
Last season, the Steelers picked Will Howard with the 185th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Before the Steelers, he spent four seasons at Kansas State, then transferred to Ohio State and won a National Championship.
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However, should the team really look to draft a quarterback in a later round, considering they did that last year with Howard, who has yet to play?
The Rodgers debacle is frustrating for the organization and fans, but it’s an excellent strategy on the front office’s part to have these backup plans in place.
