{"id":842872,"date":"2026-03-30T13:13:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T13:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/842872\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T13:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T13:13:16","slug":"fittipaldo-skeptical-steelers-are-willing-to-overpay-for-aaron-rodgers-if-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/842872\/","title":{"rendered":"Fittipaldo Skeptical Steelers Are Willing To Overpay For Aaron Rodgers If Necessary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aaron Rodgers has not re-signed with the Steelers, and he\u2019s given little indication that he will any time soon<\/a>. Is the price tag part of the problem? And what is the price point for both parties that is necessary to resolve such an impasse? Given Rodgers\u2019 lackadaisical attitude toward employment, many have begun to speculate about compensation as a variable.<\/p>\n

The Steelers didn\u2019t have to pay much at all for Aaron Rodgers<\/a> last year, relatively speaking, as a starting quarterback. Some believe he could be expecting to earn two to three times as much as last season, however. Is that too rich for their blood, or will they be willing to pay that? It\u2019s still within the market value, but Ray Fittipaldo questions whether the Steelers like Rodgers that much.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if the Steelers would go to $30 million, to be honest with you\u201d, Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan<\/a>. \u201cThey understand that they have to get their future franchise quarterback at some point anyway. Whether you start the clock on that in April of 2026 or in January of 2027, I think they\u2019ve come to the realization that it\u2019s not gonna be perfect whenever it does happen\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Steelers went 10-7 last season, including 10-6 with Aaron Rodgers starting. They won the AFC North for the first time since 2020. They beat a hasty postseason exit, however, in the Wild Card Round, with Rodgers contributing to two Texans defensive touchdowns late in the game.<\/p>\n

Rodgers went 327-for-498 for 3,322 yards with 24 touchdowns to 7 interceptions last season. He posted two fourth-quarter comebacks and three game-winning drives but alternately looked vintage Rodgers and ready for retirement. Unfortunately, they saw the latter in the playoffs, when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Aaron wants to come back<\/a>, great, they can get on with that as planned in 2027\u201d, Fittipaldo said of the Steelers\u2019 quarterback plans. \u201cBut if [he doesn\u2019t], you just sort of have to rip off the Band-Aid, and Will Howard would compete with Mason Rudolph and probably another veteran, and their intent would be to get Will Howard ready at some point in 2026 where they could judge him in games\u201d.<\/p>\n

While Charlie Batch thinks Aaron Rodgers is worth that money<\/a>, do the Steelers agree? Would they have pursued him last year if he were demanding that kind of money? And how much has he improved his market value, realistically, just based on last year\u2019s play?<\/p>\n

The thing is, if the Steelers don\u2019t have Aaron Rodgers, they don\u2019t have much else at quarterback. At least not much else that has proven anything up to this point. Mason Rudolph has proven that he is not a franchise quarterback. Will Howard has not, but he hasn\u2019t had a chance to succeed yet, let alone to fail. Rodgers is obviously not the future, but at what price will the Steelers take him for the present<\/a>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Rodgers has not re-signed with the Steelers, and he\u2019s given little indication that he will any time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[8740,1586,7,6,520,57,2360,7827,426,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-842872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-93-7-the-fan","9":"tag-aaron-rodgers","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","14":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","15":"tag-ray-fittipaldo","16":"tag-steelers","17":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842872","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=842872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}