INDIANAPOLIS — While the Pittsburgh Steelers once again enter their offseason awaiting a decision from quarterback Aaron Rodgers on his future, general manager Omar Khan doesn’t believe this process will be as prolonged as the one that saw the quarterback finally ink a one-year deal in June 2025.
“I don’t foresee this going like it did last year,” Khan told a small group of Pittsburgh media at the NFL combine Tuesday morning.
Khan declined to give an exact deadline when asked if it was important to have a decision from the 42-year-old quarterback prior to the official start of free agency on March 11.
“I don’t really want to say it has to be done by then, would like to have an idea, but it just isn’t going to go like it did last year,” he said.
“… I think the circumstances are a little different, just conversations we had. I think neither side wants to have this drag on like it did last year.”
Before eventually agreeing to a one-year, $13.65 million contract just before mandatory minicamp last June 5, Rodgers had multiple conversations with Steelers brass and even took a covert visit to Pittsburgh’s practice facility March 21.
Khan said both he and new coach Mike McCarthy have been in touch with Rodgers in recent weeks.
“We’ve had a conversation, and we’ve expressed it was a really good experience with Aaron, and that option’s still out there,” Khan said when asked if it was his desire for Rodgers to be the starting quarterback in 2026.
Khan deferred to Rodgers when asked if he got the sense the quarterback was deciding between the Steelers and retirement or factoring in the possibility of playing for another team.
“He knows how we feel, and I think we know how he feels about us,” Khan said. “It was a good experience for both sides. Unfortunately we didn’t reach our goals on winning the games that we wanted to win at the end, but there’s a mutual respect there.”
Regardless of Rodgers’ decision, Khan acknowledged that the Steelers have to prioritize the hunt for their next franchise quarterback — something that’s evaded them since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement following the 2021 season.
While Khan said “all options are on the table” to find that player, including free agency and the draft, where the Steelers are slated to have 12 picks. The organization also has 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard in the fold along with veteran backup Mason Rudolph.
“We all agree that we’re looking for that next franchise guy,” Khan said. “We’re not there yet, and we may have the guy in the roster, we don’t know. We’re excited to work with Will, but we know that it has to be addressed, and we’re all looking for the same thing. We’re just not there yet.”
Though Howard missed most of his rookie season after sustaining a fractured pinkie finger in his throwing hand during training camp, Khan expressed excitement about Howard’s development and McCarthy’s role in it.
“[McCarthy] has talked about how much he liked Will coming out, and him and I have spent some time watching his practice tape,” Khan said. “Obviously we didn’t have the ability to watch him in games, which would’ve been good. He got hurt in the preseason, but we watched all the practice tape and have seen the progression, and there’s some exciting stuff to see.”
While the Steelers embark on yet another offseason with a massive quarterback question, they’re also weighing a decision about left tackle Broderick Jones. The organization has to make a decision on the 2023 first-round pick’s $20 million fifth-year option by May 1. Complicating that calculation is Jones’ recovery from a season-ending neck injury he suffered in Week 12 against the Chicago Bears and resulting surgery. Khan said he wasn’t sure if Jones would be back by the start of the late July training camp.
“Obviously he had a significant injury, and we’re monitoring how he progresses,” Khan said. “I know he’s working hard, and it is still early in the process. That’s certainly something that we’re monitoring.”
