The NFL season is complete, but the offseason intrigue surrounding the Steelers will go on for quite a while. After defensive lineman Cam Heyward said last week that he wants to return to the Steelers for the final year of his contract, yesterday he posted on X a video of a book being slammed shut, triggering speculation that he was signaling the ending of the Steelers chapter of his life.
Meanwhile, the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported yesterday that Aaron Rodgers has spoken multiple times with new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy and also with receiver DK Metcalfe and “the odds are increasing” that Rodgers will come back next season. Pelissero says Rodgers will take some more time and the Steelers hope that he makes his intentions known “prior to the start of free agency in mid-March.”
If the Steelers don’t re-sign Rodgers, they may set their sights on a free agent such as Malik Willis or Kirk Cousins. Willis is on the market after his contract with the Packers expired. ESPN reports that Cousins will be released by the Falcons before a newly reconstructed contract that guarantees him $68 million kicks in next month. Other quarterbacks expected to hit the free agent market this offseason are the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa and the Cardinals’ Kyler Murray.
