{"id":847408,"date":"2026-04-01T15:58:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/847408\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T15:58:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:58:22","slug":"afc-divisional-champion-now-lurking-as-steelers-suddenly-have-competition-for-aaron-rodgers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/847408\/","title":{"rendered":"AFC Divisional Champion Now Lurking As Steelers Suddenly Have Competition For Aaron Rodgers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>\u00a0are patiently waiting<\/a> for Aaron Rodgers<\/a>\u00a0to commit to playing for another season. The overwhelming expectation is that he will be returning to play an additional campaign in the Steel City. The franchise went 10-7 and captured an AFC North title with the veteran at the helm, so it is no surprise that there is mutual interest about running it back. Those around the NFL have not really suggested that the four-time MVP could land elsewhere, but rumors will continue to float around as long as he is a free agent and not under contract.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

Sebastian Foltz \/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/p>\n

Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers prepares to make a throw as the team works out during 2025 mandatory minicamp at the UPMC Sports Complex in Pittsburgh, PA.<\/p>\n

Most quarterback situations around the NFL seemed to be solved \u2014 at least for now. However, there were some injuries that occurred later on in the year, and even in the postseason, that there haven’t been too many updates on. For all anyone knows, Rodgers might be holding out hope that a more significant contender comes calling about his services.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, that reality came to the surface. ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio, who has been present at the Annual League Meetings that are taking place in Phoenix, reported<\/a> that there is an AFC team lurking in the shadows. The Denver Broncos\u00a0and Sean Payton, who had the number one seed in the conference, could be looking to bring in someone like Rodgers to give Bo Nix\u00a0more time as he recovers from a nasty ankle injury.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s talk of the Broncos possibly bringing Rodgers in for a visit. The motivation comes from the possibility that current starter Bo Nix won\u2019t be fully and completely back to 100 percent when Week 1 rolls around,” Florio wrote.<\/p>\n

Denver possibly asking Rodgers to meet with the decision-makers would signal a massive shift in this saga. It would bring doubt into the minds of the Steelers’ brass, and potentially fracture the relationship altogether. The idea of Rodgers leading the way may be too attractive for Payton to pass up.<\/p>\n

“Beyond the basic question of whether Nix will be healthy is whether Nix gives the Broncos the best chance to get to the Super Bowl and win it. Coach Sean Payton, who like any coach who has won a Super Bowl with one team is keenly aware that no coach has won a Super Bowl with two different franchises, may be tempted to roll the dice on a possible one-year upgrade (if Rodgers would truly be an upgrade) in order to finish the work the Broncos started in 2025,” Florio noted.<\/p>\n

This would send shockwaves through the NFL, and it’s fair to note that it hasn’t really been reported elsewhere. However, Florio is connected and over in Phoenix, where a lot of chatter is occurring.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

Isaiah J. Downing \/ USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

Denver Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton on the field during a team practice.<\/p>\n

There is a lot of reason to believe that Payton and the Broncos have no interest in disrupting the Steelers’ current plans, but Florio made sure to play devil’s advocate.<\/p>\n

“For Payton, the possibility of blazing a new trail for NFL coaches could be the thing that gets him to Canton. If he thinks Rodgers gives them a better chance to win the Super Bowl than Nix, why wouldn\u2019t Payton at least ponder the possibility?”<\/p>\n

This is no joke, and there appears to be some real steam to this scenario playing out. If the Broncos call Rodgers, would he value that meeting over his relationship with Mike McCarthy<\/a>\u00a0and the Steelers as a whole?<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s all very early. And it\u2019s not an April Fool\u2019s Day gag,” Florio wrote.\u00a0“The Broncos could be turning to Rodgers, at a time when the Steelers have assumed the position for the second straight offseason.”<\/p>\n

Time will tell, as Pittsburgh does in fact expect an answer<\/a> from the future Hall of Famer sooner rather than later. For all anyone knows, Payton and Rodgers have already connected.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

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

Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers stands on the field as the team works out in front of fans (8) during a 2025 training camp practice at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.<\/p>\n

Steelers Seem To Have Simple Plan In Place If Rodgers Does Not Return<\/p>\n

The brass in Pittsburgh appears to have a very specific backup plan if Rodgers does indeed retire, or go on to play somewhere else. Will Howard<\/a>\u00a0has received endless compliments from the new regime, which would signal that he is in line to be the starter if Rodgers isn’t in the building. Regardless, this reporting from Florio comes at a very interesting time, owners, general managers and coaches all commence in Arizona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0are patiently waiting for Aaron Rodgers\u00a0to commit to playing for another season. The overwhelming expectation is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[1586,925,258,198,7,2394,5745,7866,6,520,57,2360,11145,1813,426,104084,2395,2183],"class_list":{"0":"post-847408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-bo-nix","10":"tag-denver-broncos","11":"tag-featured","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-forum","14":"tag-mike-florio","15":"tag-mike-mccarthy","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-pittsburgh","18":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","19":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","20":"tag-profootballtalk","21":"tag-sean-payton","22":"tag-steelers","23":"tag-steelers-2026-nfl-free-agency","24":"tag-steelers-news","25":"tag-will-howard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116330282977685885","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847408","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=847408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}