Instead of just getting a straight answer from the Pittsburgh Steelers — or from Aaron Rodgers himself — about their 42-year-old quarterback’s plans to play or retire in 2026, we are forced to follow a trail of bread crumbs for information.
Again. Just like last year. Even though free agency is open and the NFL draft is less than a month away.
ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter was on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Monday. He was asked about Rodgers’ quizzical comments on that same program two weeks ago when Rodgers claimed the Steelers hadn’t extended a contract offer yet.
“When Aaron Rodgers said that they hadn’t even had any contractual discussion, that surprised me a little bit, because Pittsburgh has been pretty clear about its intent to want him back,” Schefter said. “All the players want him back. Everybody wants him back. So what’s the delay in a contract? It just feels like they want him. He’s interested in them. And it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out, especially after last year.”
“Pittsburgh wants Aaron Rodgers back and if he wants to come back the job is his..
If he doesn’t want to play I think Kirk Cousins would be a logically pivot” ~ @AdamSchefter #PMSLive https://t.co/Y8jLuUNMJg pic.twitter.com/wTrIbLFx9b
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 23, 2026
Yeah. No kidding. Exactly.
Maybe it’s because the Steelers are waiting for Rodgers to tell them if he plans on playing before they bother offering him a contract in the first place. If I’m Omar Khan, I tell Rodgers’ representatives that’s not too much of an ask.
“But I don’t know whether they’ve actually started (negotiations),” Schefter concluded.
Also during the conversation, Schefter was asked if Kirk Cousins had a chance to be the Steelers QB if Rodgers drags this process out into the summer.
“I don’t think Kirk Cousins is waiting, but I do think he’s following and watching,” Schefter said. “Because I do think if Aaron decides that he doesn’t want to play, that Kirk Cousins would be a logical pivot for the Pittsburgh Steelers at that point in time. I don’t think Kirk Cousins is in any rush to go do something. I think he’s going to wait for the right opportunity, and if that happens to be in Pittsburgh, that would be great for Kirk Cousins, but Pittsburgh wants Aaron Rodgers back.”
There’s not much in this world that would encourage me to be patient for Rodgers into June again. Suggesting that Cousins is the next best option, though? That may do the trick.
Based on the way Cousins looked last year and his recent injury history at age 37 … Ugh!
Sorry, Adam. I get your point. But I’d argue any team turning to Kirk Cousins at this stage of his career isn’t being “logical.” It’s relying on desperation.
Meanwhile, new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy was back in Green Bay on Monday. He was at a memorial service to honor former Packers president and CEO Bob Harlan. McCarthy coached there from 2006-2018. Rodgers was on Green Bay’s roster that entire time.
The memorial service was emceed by Harlan’s son, long-time NFL/network basketball play-by-play man Kevin Harlan. During a Q&A with McCarthy, Harland asked the coach about Rodgers’ plans.
Can’t take the journalist out of Kevin Harlan. Even as the emcee of his father’s celebration of life at Lambeau Field, he had to ask Mike McCarthy about a possible reunion with Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh: pic.twitter.com/kIKOShXgHf
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) March 23, 2026
“It’d be a great story,” McCarthy said about the notion of reuniting with Rodgers. “I don’t know. I would love to tell everybody this breaking news. It’s really cool to see Aaron at 42. To see a young man at 22 and all that he’s been able to accomplish, and where he’s at in his personal life, in trying to make this decision. He’s in a really good place, but… I think he’s in a really good place.”
As for new receiver Michael Pittman Jr., he was on the “Up and Adams” show. He claims to be in the dark as well.
“I don’t know (anything),” Pittman said to host Kay Adams. “I haven’t talked to Aaron. … I’m trying to give him space. He likes his space. He likes to get refreshed. I didn’t want to get signed and then blow him up and be like, ‘Hey, Aaron, like, what’s the deal?’ Just give him time. He and his wife they’ve got to handle some things. And then he will decide if he wants to come back or not.”
“I think that he wants to play… knowing Aaron [Rodgers] prior to this, I think that he’s going to try and play as long as he can…”
Steelers WR Michael Pittman Jr. on Aaron Rodgers’ future@heykayadams | @MikePitt_Jr | @steelers pic.twitter.com/EChw21iCPn
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) March 23, 2026
Pittman insisted that he has no sense that Rodgers has any inclination to retire.
“I think that he wants to play. Knowing Aaron prior to this, I just think he’s going to try to play as long as he can. He’s a beast,” Pittman continued.
Adams asked if Pittman expected this to last all the way until June, like it did last year when Mike Tomlin was the coach.
“I think they’re going to give him the most time that he needs,” Pittman replied. “But at the end of the day, we also have two other quarterbacks on the roster that I think are great guys too, in Will Howard and Mason Rudolph. So we have really good plans, whether he doesn’t come back or whether he does. We can rock with it now, obviously, hoping that he comes back.”
If those contingency plans are just Howard, Rudolph or Cousins, then that hope is really going to be tested.
Especially if “the most time that he needs” takes the Steelers beyond the draft. Which is exactly why the team shouldn’t wait that long for an answer this year. If they don’t have one by that point, then quarterback has to be back in play for the Steelers over the first two days of the draft.
Come to think of it, maybe it should be regardless of Rodgers’ drawn-out decision.
Listen: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss the Steelers draft, the Penguins’ pursuit of the looming NHL playoffs and the start of the Pirates season in this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast
