{"id":841634,"date":"2026-03-29T21:03:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/841634\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T21:03:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:03:24","slug":"steelers-art-rooney-ii-sends-direct-message-to-aaron-rodgers-as-veteran-continues-to-take-his-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/841634\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers’ Art Rooney II Sends Direct Message To Aaron Rodgers As Veteran Continues To Take His Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has turned into a matter of when, not if, Aaron Rodgers<\/a>\u00a0will commit to playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0in 2026. After one year with the organization, it appeared as if the relationship would end, but the franchise then hired Mike McCarthy<\/a>\u00a0following the resignation<\/a> of Mike Tomlin<\/a>. Now, the team is waiting for the four-time MVP to make a decision or whether he wants to keep playing or not. The majority of the roster was improved during free agency; however, the most important position in the sport has some questions with the front office preparing for the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

Jordan Schofield \/ SteelerNation (X: @JSKO_PHOTO)<\/p>\n

Steelers’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks down intense focus in street clothes as the team works out during a 2025 training camp practice at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.<\/p>\n

It’s very possible that there is already a handshake agreement in place between the Steelers and Rodgers. However, nothing has been announced publicly. The decision-makers in Pittsburgh might be just as in the dark as everyone else when it comes to the mysterious Super Bowl champion’s plans. The clock is ticking for him to give an answer, though, even though the expectation is that he will sign another one-year contract.<\/p>\n

Gerry Dulac\u00a0is an insider for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette\u00a0and often gets scoops that come from behind closed doors. On Sunday, he reported<\/a> that he spoke directly with Team Owner Art Rooney II<\/a>. It was a very simple published piece, and it got to the point quickly. It almost seemed as if the President of the Steelers was reminding Rodgers that he should decide sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

“\u201cI still expect that,\u201d team owner\/president Art Rooney II told the Post-Gazette. \u201cI expect we\u2019ll get an answer before the draft.\u201d”<\/p>\n

Dulac continued to write about what the franchise’s current expectation is. The 2026 offseason is a little bit different, as Rooney and co. have no worries that there is another potential landing spot for Rodgers.<\/p>\n

“Unlike last year, when some teams feigned interest in signing Rodgers, there has not been any speculation about another team wanting to sign the 42-year-old quarterback this year,” Dulac wrote.\u00a0“The Steelers have always believed Rodgers was either going to re-sign with them or retire.”<\/p>\n

Rooney also told the reporter that both he and General Manager Omar Khan<\/a>\u00a0were informed by the signal-caller that the 2026 version of his decision would not linger as long as it did in 2025.<\/p>\n

“\u201cWhen I talked to him and Omar [Khan] talked to him, he told us he wasn\u2019t going to take as long this year as he did last year [to make a decision],\u201d Rooney said. \u201cI\u2019m not 100% sure what that means, but I expect something before the draft.\u201d”<\/p>\n

The veteran didn’t put pen to paper until June, which seemed to purposely happen just prior to mandatory minicamp. Rodgers is very careful with his words, but it appears as if the Steelers’ brass wants to know before the end of April.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

Jordan Schofield \/ SteelerNation (Twitter \/ X: @JSKO_PHOTO)<\/p>\n

Steelers Team President Art Rooney II roams the sidelines as the team warms up and gets ready to compete in a 2022 preseason matchup at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.<\/p>\n

If Rodgers does end up surprising everyone and walking away from the game, Pittsburgh would at least be able to potentially draft a signal-caller earlier than expected. If he drags out the decision and the Steelers avoid selecting a quarterback, it could lead to depth issues within the room. Rooney is seemingly using a local reporter to get a subtle but important message to Rodgers.<\/p>\n

Steelers Are Tiring Out The Fan Base With Constant Quarterback Drama<\/p>\n

Rodgers has always been on his own time and will continue to be. If he has any bit of respect for the organization, his former teammates, and the fans, however, the decision to return to Pittsburgh or not should come in a timely manner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

Jordan Schofield \/ SteelerNation (X: @JSKO_PHOTO)<\/p>\n

Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers takes a knee and looks off into the distance as the team gets ready to participate during a 2025 training camp practice in Latrobe, PA.<\/p>\n

Despite this, he is still enjoying his offseason without too much public discussion. He did appear on the Pat McAfee Show, but implied that the Steelers hadn’t even given him an offer yet, while the franchise is likely waiting for confirmation of another season prior to putting numbers in front of the future Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has turned into a matter of when, not if, Aaron Rodgers\u00a0will commit to playing for the Pittsburgh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":841635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[1586,4393,198,7,2394,6600,7866,1255,6,1256,520,12744,57,2360,426,2395],"class_list":["post-841634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-art-rooney-ii","tag-featured","tag-football","tag-forum","tag-gerry-dulac","tag-mike-mccarthy","tag-mike-tomlin","tag-nfl","tag-omar-khan","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-post-gazette","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-pittsburghsteelers","tag-steelers","tag-steelers-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116314493836770657","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}