{"id":854506,"date":"2026-04-05T03:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T03:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/854506\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T03:42:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T03:42:28","slug":"is-there-a-plan-b-in-pittsburgh-steelers-reportedly-unprepared-if-aaron-rodgers-walks-away-before-2026-season-nfl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/854506\/","title":{"rendered":"Is there a Plan B in Pittsburgh? Steelers reportedly unprepared if Aaron Rodgers walks away before 2026 season | NFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IsAaron Rodgers future with Steelers is uncertain (Getty Images) With the 2026 NFL Draft just weeks away, the Pittsburgh Steelers still does not know who will lead the offense. Aaron Rodgers<\/a> remains undecided about returning, despite a steady 2025 season that saw him throw for 3,322 yards with 24 touchdowns. The clock is ticking, and the franchise appears to be bracing for more than one outcome.<\/p>\n

Steelers wait on Aaron Rodgers as draft pressure builds<\/p>\n

Aaron Rodgers gave Pittsburgh stability last season. He was efficient, careful with the ball, and rarely put the team in difficult spots. Yet that consistency has not brought clarity this spring.Owner Art Rooney II made it clear the team does not want this uncertainty dragging into late April. \u201cI have not talked to him. Coach [McCarthy] has been in contact with him pretty regularly,\u201d Rooney told ESPN\u2019s Brooke Pryor. \u201cI think a decision is probably coming soon.\u201dThat timeline matters. The draft begins April 23, and the Steelers would prefer a firm answer before they are on the clock.There is a quiet tension building inside the organization. If Rodgers returns, the plan holds. If he does not, Pittsburgh must pivot quickly, possibly without a clear-cut starter in place.According to ESPN\u2019s Brooke Pryor, that pivot could include adding a young arm. \u201cI think it\u2019s a very real possibility that they could draft a quarterback, maybe not in the first round,\u201d Pryor said. \u201cThey have other needs to address, but a later-round guy.\u201dThat approach suggests caution. It also hints at a team not fully convinced about its current depth.<\/p>\n

Will Howard, Ty Simpson, and the search for a fallback<\/p>\n

The Steelers are not starting from zero. Will Howard, now in his second year, has drawn internal support. Mike McCarthy has spoken positively about his development.\u201cI\u2019m really excited about Will Howard,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cHe\u2019s someone that, I thought, he really came on there at Ohio State.\u201dStill, optimism does not always equal certainty.That is where other names enter the conversation. Ty Simpson has quietly built a case as a potential option. His numbers stand out, 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns, and just five interceptions last season. More importantly, evaluators see traits that translate.ESPN analyst Louis Riddick did not hold back. \u201cI like Will Howard \u2013 I don\u2019t like Will Howard as much as Ty Simpson. I don\u2019t even think they\u2019re in the same stratosphere as far as their ability to throw the football. I think Ty Simpson is a guy who, right now, based upon how the season ended \u2013 and we\u2019ve talked about it a lot and we\u2019re going to be talking about it a lot more,\u201d Riddick said, via On3. \u201cBased upon how the latter half of the season ended, which wasn\u2019t all on him. The guy was banged up, offensive line is very inconsistent, the running game is nonexistent and the wide receiver corps was up-and-down from week to week. And then, he turns it around in the playoffs against Oklahoma and brings his team back from a 17-point deficit. He\u2019s tailor-made for Mike McCarthy\u2019s system \u2013 and Mike has coached some good quarterbacks.\u201dThat endorsement carries weight. It also raises a simple question. How long can Pittsburgh afford to wait?For now, everything circles back to Rodgers. His decision will shape the draft, the depth chart, and perhaps the entire season. Until then, the Steelers remain in limbo, balancing patience with urgency as one answer holds up every other move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Rodgers future with Steelers is uncertain (Getty Images) With the 2026 NFL Draft just weeks away, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[1586,7,7866,6,15729,520,57,2360,426,116737,116738,2183],"class_list":{"0":"post-854506","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-football","10":"tag-mike-mccarthy","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-draft-2026","13":"tag-pittsburgh","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-steelers","17":"tag-steelers-draft-strategy","18":"tag-steelers-quarterback-depth","19":"tag-will-howard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116350036681509366","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854506","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=854506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}