Call it a hunch. Call it intuition. But something is brewing with the Steelers quarterback situation. Up until the last 10 days or so, I would have said Aaron Rodgers was the overwhelming favorite to be the Steelers quarterback in 2026. No questions asked, done deal. Then the Aaron Rodgers appearance on the Pat McCaffee show happened. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Rodgers is a frequent guest on the show, but the timing was a little weird. No one thought there would be any ground breaking announcement on the McCaffe show, and there wasn’t. The only thing of any substance was Aaron Rodgers going out of his way to let us know that there is no offer on the table from the Steelers. This leads me to believe that Rodgers purposely went on to call out the Steelers, and maybe put a little pressure on them to come with an offer. We all know Aaron Rodgers is more than capable of using this kind of passive aggressive tacit.
No one could blame the Steelers for being tired of the Aaron Rodgers schtick. It would be in their best interest to look at all options while waiting on Rodgers. The problem is their options are severely limited. Malik Willis was snatched up on day one for free agency. He was the only viable free agent quarterback with the kind of upside worthy of a serious contract. There is one other quarterback out there who you (the Steelers) could talk themselves into being a high end option if things were to fall into place. That player is Kyler Murray.
Murray is not too far removed from back to back near 4,000 yard seasons in Arizona in 2020 and 2021. Even as recently as 2024 Murray went for 3,900 yards with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The talent has never been the question with this player. His lack of size (5’10”), and seeming lack of commitment to improving as a quarterback are the real issues. We could easily see the Steelers seeing Kyler Murray as a cheap, and easy shortcut to obtaining a franchise caliber quarterback. Everything they’ve done thus far in free agency is with a playoff run in mind, so the need for a veteran quarterback is a top priority.
The Steelers tried this just two years ago with the Russel Wilson signing. Kyler Murray is getting the majority of his salary paid by the Cardinals after they cut him, exactly the same way Russ was when he became a free agent. The difference here is Kyler Murray is just 28, as opposed to Wilson who was 35 and as it turned out pretty much washed. Art Rooney is notoriously cheap, and this gives him a chance to have a quarterback at a deep discount. We’ve seen the blueprint for the Steelers, don’t be surprised if Kyer Murray is the Steelers starting quarterback in 2026.