Steelers' Aaron Rodgers Will Be Useful But Won't Be "Babying" Young Quarterbacks

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been culprits of using band-aid veteran quarterbacks ever since Ben Roethlisberger hung up his cleats, and especially after the Kenny Pickett experiment didn't work out. This trend continued in 2025 when the Steelers signed future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers to a one-year deal. Rodgers' career is nearing the end, but he was effective enough to win the AFC North and earn Pittsburgh a home playoff berth, even at age 42.

The Steelers recently signed the four-time MVP to another one-year contract for his last hoorah in the Steel City, hoping that his experience can lead them back on a similar path to 2025, but with a playoff victory or more. 

The Steelers were speculated to take a signal-caller in the 2026 NFL Draft, but many believed they would add a young arm, either for training camp or as a long-term project. However, in the third round, the front office decided to use the 76th overall pick on quarterback Drew Allar. Allar will be paired with another young player, Will Howard, making the team's depth at quarterback very inexperienced aside from Rodgers and Mason Rudolph. 

Now, Pittsburgh will have two gunslingers with zero NFL snaps and a position group that will include four arms who could all be of some value to the team, at least for 2026. Rodgers' veteran status and historic career could put him in line to be a mentor for the young arms; however, he noted that he'll be a resource for them. His role was spoken about on the North Shore Drive podcast, where Steelers beat writer Christopher Carter broke down how he thinks Rodgers will handle the youth. 

"Sounds like he's willing to be there, but he's not going to be babying these guys," Carter said. "It's not like he's going to be like, 'Hey man, fix this. Fix that.' It's going to be, 'I'm here as a resource if you want to use me.'''

Rodgers was the franchise quarterback for the Green Bay Packers for many years. He won a Super Bowl with them, four MVPs, and fostered a Hall of Fame career. Now, his role is to be the vet in the room and still go out there and win games, though he isn't quite the same player he once was. 

He mentored some young quarterbacks before, but he knew he wasn't moving on from Green Bay. Rodgers made it known that 2026 will be his final season, and while he could take a big role as a mentor, he wants to be a resource, rather than a full-on teacher. 

While the two young quarterbacks will greatly benefit from having Rodgers around, his focus is to win. The coaching staff has been breaking down Allar and bringing his fundamentals up to speed. Howard is getting some much-needed practice after missing a huge chunk of important developmental time in 2025 with a hand injury. 

Rodgers will help them acclimate to the nuances of the NFL and how to read defenses and some situational stuff, but it'll be up to the coaching staff to really unlock the young quarterbacks. 

The Steelers Have The Right Coaching Staff To Develop Quarterbacks

The Steelers' vacant head coaching job was filled by Pittsburgh's own Mike McCarthy in January of 2026 after Mike Tomlin stepped down. The "quarterback guru", McCarthy has noticeably spent a ton of one-on-one time with the young quarterbacks throughout Organized Team Activities (OTAs) already this offseason. McCarthy has gotten the most out of underdeveloped quarterbacks and is credited with helping Rodgers come into form. 

It's the next chapter for McCarthy, but so far, he looks to be teaming up with his former franchise quarterback in aiding the development of a potential star for Pittsburgh. Rodgers' advice and McCarthy's expertise will be vital in helping the young gunslingers grow. 

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