Aaron Rodgers Decision Timeline Updated By Steelers' Art Rooney II After Rare Contract Move

The Pittsburgh Steelers, like everyone paying attention to NFL news, are stuck in a seemingly never-ending waiting cycle when it comes to an Aaron Rodgers decision, and team owner Art Rooney II opened up about the decision to use an unrestricted free agent tender on the quarterback.

"The main thing that the tender gives us is the potential for a comp pick if Aaron would choose to go to another team," Rooney told NFL Network on Wednesday. "We don't expect that, but by the same token, you never know. It's just something we had an opportunity to protect if needed.

"The deadline was Monday, so if we were going to do it we had to pull the trigger on Monday. We alerted Aaron and his representative that we were going to do it, and so not a real big deal. Just something that in the unlikely event he goes somewhere else, we are eligible for a comp pick."

By using the UFA tender, the Steelers can match any offer sheet the future Hall of Famer signs elsewhere and would receive a potential third-round pick as compensation if he ends up on another team. 

What's more, the AFC North team would have exclusive negotiating rights with Rodgers starting on the first day of training camp or July 22.

In essence, this is an insurance policy for the Steelers and seemingly wasn't made to put further pressure on the quarterback.

"He's been keeping us up to date on his plans," Rooney said. "Even though I thought it probably would have been concluded by now, I think we will come to a conclusion here in the next few weeks."

Pittsburgh had Mason Rudolph and Will Howard in its quarterback room entering the 2026 NFL draft, which wasn't exactly a promising situation. Rudolph has struggled with consistency throughout his career and was a combined 1-5 in six starts in 2024 and 2025, while Howard was a sixth-round pick in 2025 and has never appeared in a regular-season NFL game.

With that as the backdrop, the Steelers selected Drew Allar with a third-round pick in this year's draft to provide more depth.

Drew Allar highlights

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Allar was a 5-star recruit, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and largely played well at Penn State despite struggling at times against elite competition. Yet he was limited to just six games in 2025 and is another question mark in the quarterback room.

At this point, Rodgers may be the best option by default even though he is 42 years old and was 27th in the league in QBR last season, per Pro Football Reference.

But this isn't the version of Rodgers who won four league MVPs with the Green Bay Packers the Steelers are waiting for this offseason. Yes, he could make them better in the immediate future, but there remains an obvious ceiling for any team with him under center in 2026.

Pittsburgh is still hoping to be that team.