“I don’t know where specifically Aaron is,” Khan said. “I can tell you that Aaron and I, and coach and Aaron, and Aaron’s representatives have had good conversations since the season ended and since Mike [McCarthy] got hired. It’s been positive, but, yeah, I don’t know where he is at this moment.”
The quote sounds strange because NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported just recently that Rodgers is expected to visit the Steelers on Friday and is likely to sign with the team for 2026. But a GM publicly saying he doesn’t know his quarterback’s location while the quarterback is reportedly en route to his building is a telling sign of the situation.
Pittsburgh, for its part, put an unrestricted free-agent tender on Rodgers. The mechanism bars Rodgers from signing elsewhere after July 22, and earned the Steelers a 2027 compensatory draft pick if he leaves before. But with this tender, they committed to him before he committed to them.
Omar Khan on Aaron Rodgers to Chris Mack on Sirius: ‘I don’t know where, specifically, Aaron is. I can tell you that Aaron and I, and coach and Aaron, and Aaron’s representatives have had good conversations since the season ended and since Mike [McCarthy] got hired. It’s been…
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) May 8, 2026
At the NFL Combine, Omar Khan had made it clear that “the door’s open to have Aaron back.” Steelers owner Art Rooney II had confirmed they’d have a decision from Rodgers before the draft. Khan admitted the situation was complicated, but assured everyone Rodgers would be on the roster soon.
“I think the circumstances are a little different, but just conversations we’ve had, I don’t think either side wants to have this drag on like it did last year,” Khan had said at the combine.
But the 2026 NFL Draft is already behind us, and there’s no sign of Rodgers. Last season, Rodgers didn’t arrive at his decision until June, while similar narratives plagued Pittsburgh all of the 2025 offseason. Khan said he didn’t want a repeat of that, but he’s getting one anyway.
Now, the Steelers have their OTAs starting on May 18. Will Howard and Drew Allar are the young quarterbacks who need reps in a new offense under Mike McCarthy. Every week Rodgers holds out is a week those two develop without the veteran they’re supposed to learn behind. And with only Mason Rudolph as a proven backup, Pittsburgh can’t run its quarterback room on optimism alone.
Rodgers’ franchise tender pays him a little over $15 million if he signs it. But this hasn’t been about the money for Rodgers. For him, it all boils down to whether he wants to play football badly enough to stop making them wait. And in the meantime, the 4x NFL MVP has been keeping busy, helping give back to his origin story.
