Aaron Rodgers is yet to make a final call on his football future, and retirement is still very much on the table. Because of that uncertainty, the franchise is quietly preparing for the possibility of needing a new starting quarterback. According to Ben Roethlisberger, the team’s timeline for a decision is much shorter than Rodgers might like, potentially forcing the future Hall of Famer’s hand.

Roethlisberger added intrigue while speaking on Channel Seven, suggesting the Steel City may not be willing to wait forever. “Someone within the Steelers gave Aaron, like, a month to make a decision,” he said.

“Again, how true is that? We don’t know. We know Aaron loves to prolong his decisions on the following year after, whether it’s spending some time away. Asking for an answer within a month is probably a big deal for him, if there’s truth to it. That’s deciding pretty early about what he wants to do. Maybe he’ll say, hey, listen, go ahead, Steelers. I’m not sure what I want to do, and I’ll push it down the road; maybe go to another team.”

The timeline Roethlisberger hinted at seems to line up with comments from principal owner Art Rooney II from January.

“We’ll see where Aaron is, and we’ve left the door open, but obviously we all have to sit down and see if that makes sense. So that’ll happen sometime in the next month or so. But the decision was made based on Mike being the coach we want, and it really had very little to do with whether Aaron is going to be back or not,” Rooney said, as per the Steelers’ official website.

Aaron Rodgers arrived on a one-year deal last offseason and helped the Pittsburgh Steelers capture the AFC North in 2025. After playing 21 seasons, he is not the same force he once was. However, he scored 24 touchdowns against seven interceptions while completing 65.7% of his passes at age 42.

The quarterback room at Acrisure Stadium is already shifting. With Mike McCarthy now leading the charge, Mason Rudolph and Will Howard sit at the center of the plan. McCarthy has publicly praised Howard’s upside, but the front office still plans to explore mid-round options to keep competition alive if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t return.

Ben Roethlisberger senses a new beginning under Mike McCarthy

For the first time in nearly two decades, Mike Tomlin will not be pacing the sideline or setting the tone inside the building. Instead, that responsibility now belongs to Pittsburgh native Mike McCarthy, who steps in with the weight of a proud history behind him. And Ben Roethlisberger sees this as a true reset for the Steelers and for Steeler Nation as a whole.

‘Big Ben’ laid out why this transition could still be healthy. “There’s going to be change, and sometimes change can be difficult, it can be frustrating, it can be hard,” he said.

“We’ve been doing it this way. Sometimes you need a little bit of a new paint job. I think if you can deal with the bumps and the changes and the frustrations, sometimes good things can come. I would like to think that some of these players should be like, Man, this could be good for us. Some of the young guys don’t know any better anyway. It’s like, okay, this is what we’ve got to do.”

Interestingly, McCarthy has already signaled that his approach will look different from the previous management. According to longtime Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly, McCarthy’s staff currently sits at 19 assistant coaches and is in need of a tight ends coach. Once that happens, the total will reach 20 assistants, making it the largest coaching staff the organization has ever had.

With that, there still are a bunch of unanswered questions: Are these changes worth it? Will Aaron Rodgers return to the Steel City for one last ride? Only time will tell.