The Steelers’ head coach, Mike Tomlin, makes a habit of staying in the loop of all the talent he could sign in the years to come. In a league where a single decision can tilt an entire franchise’s trajectory, Coach Tomlin and GM Omar Khan are watching the draft boards more intently than ever. Their 2026 strategy is forming long before the first snap of the 2025 season. But as insiders note, even that ‘early bird’ mentality might not guarantee success. 

Chris Dokish, a trusted Steelers insider, set the tone for the conversation in Pittsburgh. “It’s far too early to know which QB or two the Steelers will focus on in the draft. I love LaNorris Sellers, but he may be out of reach. I don’t know if he’ll be 1st round, but outside of Sellers, the one I enjoy watching the most is Sam Leavitt.” The underlying message? Pittsburgh, barring a major trade-up or poor finish, is unlikely to secure Sellers, whose stock looks poised to climb well into the upper half of round one of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Mike Tomlin is keenly aware that since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, the team’s quarterback stability has been shaky at best. Last season’s patchwork under center with Russell Wilson left Steel City impatient for a true reset. Sellers profiles himself as that answer: dynamic, rangy, a potential division-changer. “Sellers feels like he could be Cam Newton 2.0, and being that physically gifted is extraordinarily rare. Listed at 6-3 and 240 pounds, he’s a dual-threat special with a huge arm,” noted CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso. But quarterbacks of skill rarely last beyond pick fifteen, and with the Steelers projected to draft in the playoff range, their odds of landing him diminish significantly. What about Sam Leavitt, though?

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Dokish singles Leavitt out as a favorite, a prospect with intriguing upside, but perhaps not the transformational leader the franchise hoped for. Still, as Trapasso shared his verdict, “Leavitt looked the part of the modern-day mobility-based quarterback in his breakout 2024 with the Sun Devils. A former four-star recruit and the No. 18 quarterback in the 2023 quarterback class, Leavitt has first-round skills, and the Steelers need a long-term answer at the quarterback position in the worst way.” While the Steelers may not land a top-tier talent like Sellers, Leavitt looks like the second-best option for Pittsburgh at the moment. This dynamic underscores Pittsburgh’s current predicament: talented, competitive, but not low enough in the standings to load up on elite draft capital. 

The challenge facing Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan echoes similar moments in Steelers history. The team saw top quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, slip by in years past while they competed for wild cards and division titles. That drafting from the middle means surrendering prime prospects, not by choice but by numerical fate. If Sellers is out of reach, the front office must pivot, perhaps Leavitt in the late first round, or keep a sharp eye on how the 2025 college season reshuffles the QB rankings. But while the front office keeps a weather eye on the 2026 horizon, there’s another story bubbling for 2025. Aaron Rodgers, the team’s undisputed QB1 for this new season, might have more left in the tank than he originally led everyone to believe. 

The Aaron Rodgers ripple for the Steelers

Coming into Steel City with a one-year deal, Aaron Rodgers was “pretty sure” this was going to be his last season in the NFL. But after a few months of offseason grind with the franchise’s powerhouses, Aaron Rodgers may have changed his mind. With DK Metcalf lining up as a primed target for Rodgers’ throwing arm this season, that “pretty sure” stance has shifted.

Catching the exchange on Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, and the intrigue becomes unmistakable. On the podcast, DK Metcalf talked about the expectations and question marks around the team this year, and also dropped a bold prediction. “A lot of people may be looking at us like, ‘Oh, what are they going to do?’ It’s a big question mark. They can just wait and see what we do, because I think we’re going to do some special things this year.” Right after this prediction, Metcalf looked at Rodgers and added, “You know, maybe we can run it back.” Rodgers matched the energy with a sly smile and added just one word: “Maybe.” Heyward, unable to mask the surprise on his face, asked Metcalf, “Wow, you got him at a ‘maybe?’”

Rodgers’ decision after the 2025 season would carry huge consequences for the Steelers. Should he play on, Mike Tomlin gets time to develop the new QB he brings in. If Rodgers steps down, the Steelers will find themselves once again in familiar QB uncertainty territory and may be on the lookout for another veteran under center to bridge the gap. For the Steelers, this 2025 season promises to be less a campaign and more the staging ground for 2026’s reckoning. And all the while, Rodgers’ shadow grows larger in the locker room. With one eye on Rodgers, another on the college tape, we can only wait for the answers that await us at the end of this season.