{"id":849572,"date":"2026-04-02T16:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849572\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T16:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:22:16","slug":"protect-him-and-give-him-some-weapons-labriola-thinks-rodgers-is-best-chance-for-steelers-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849572\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Protect Him And Give Him Some Weapons’: Labriola Thinks Rodgers Is ‘Best Chance’ For Steelers In 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Kirk Cousins now off the market<\/a>, things are very clearly lined up for the Pittsburgh Steelers to wait out a decision from 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.<\/p>\n

First-year head coach Mike McCarthy said the Steelers and Rodgers are working through the process and continue to have positive, healthy conversations<\/a>. But there doesn\u2019t appear to be any real movement one way or the other at the moment.<\/p>\n

So, things are in a holding pattern.<\/p>\n

If Rodgers doesn\u2019t return, it\u2019s likely going to be Will Howard, Mason Rudolph and a draft pick in 2026 for the Steelers. But for Steelers.com editor Bob Labriola, the Steelers\u2019 best option in 2026 is very clear: Rodgers as the starting quarterback.<\/p>\n

In his latest Asked and Answered segment with readers, Labriola outlined why.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2025, Aaron Rodgers ranked in the top 15 overall among the 25 quarterbacks who had sufficient playing time to qualify to be ranked by the NFL statisticians in every category except yards-per-attempt. And I believe his ranking 21st in yards-per-attempt had more to do with the personnel and play calling last season than what Rodgers could execute,\u201d Labriola writes.<\/a> \u201cProtect him and give him some weapons, and I believe Aaron Rodgers can still take a team to the playoffs and then win games in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2026, Aaron Rodgers gives the Steelers the best chance to compete to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodgers was fine last season in his first year in the Black and Gold. He wasn\u2019t great, but he wasn\u2019t terrible either.<\/p>\n

Yes, he got rid of the football quickly, and most of his passing attempts were short and quick. The lack of a downfield passing attack<\/a> was painfully obvious under former Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, and it really hindered what Pittsburgh could do with the football.<\/p>\n

At times last season Rodgers looked very good, particularly late in games. Now, with the addition of wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., and the addition of Mike McCarthy as head coach, bringing a scheme Rodgers was once dominant in, things could really improve.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a lot to ask of a 42-year-old quarterback at this stage of his career. Last season Rodgers looked like he simply didn\u2019t want to get hit<\/a>. As of now, the Steelers\u2019 offensive line on the left side has major questions, though the 2026 NFL Draft could offer significant upgrades.<\/p>\n

Still, with an aging roster in a clear window, Rodgers likely offers the Steelers their best shot at winning, at least right now. We\u2019ll see what he decides in the days and weeks ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With Kirk Cousins now off the market, things are very clearly lined up for the Pittsburgh Steelers to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[1586,15013,7,6,520,57,2360,426,18713],"class_list":{"0":"post-849572","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-bob-labriola","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-pittsburgh","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","14":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","15":"tag-steelers","16":"tag-steelers-com"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116336037331950218","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849572","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=849572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}