Draft week started with the Steelers throwing Iron City beer on one of probably the most intriguing rumors that had been making the rounds.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, because the rumor goes (or went), will make an look on the draft stage in Pittsburgh to announce that he’ll be again for one more 12 months.
Now, the official phrase (from NFL Network) is that the Steelers haven’t heard from Rodgers as as to whether he plans to play in 2026, and that the Steelers do not expect a decision from Rodgers earlier than the curtain rises on spherical one.
That’s a dramatic change from what proprietor Art Rooney II mentioned final month in Arizona: “I expect we’ll get an answer before the draft.”
Unless it’s half of the setup, the nugget is probably going aimed toward avoiding disappointment from Steelers followers anticipating the draft to incorporate a WWE-style dash to the stage by Rodgers.
That mentioned, it will be the proper time for Rodgers to announce his intention to return. Plenty of Steelers followers stay leery a couple of sequel. What higher method to get them on board than to fold the Rodgers announcement into the pure pleasure of internet hosting the draft for the primary time ever?
Instead, the Steelers will proceed to proceed with Will Howard, Mason Rudolph, and whoever else they add to the roster by way of the draft, undrafted free company, veteran free company, and/or a commerce.
This isn’t the way it was imagined to go. Resolution was imagined to occur extra shortly than it did in 2025.
“I think neither side wants to have this drag on like it did last year,” G.M. Omar Khan mentioned in February.
No one wished it to tug on. But drag on it’s. And it can hold on dragging, largely as a result of Aaron Rodgers is both naturally enigmatic or likes to be perceived that means.
Or each.
