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“Steelers are being held hostage by Aaron Rodgers”: Skip Bayless rips “washed” 4x NFL MVP while naming QB options to bail out Mike McCarthy


Aaron Rodgers is still a free agent nearly a month after the beginning of the new league year, and Skip Bayless is growing impatient with him and the franchise that he has been most linked with recently.

On Monday’s episode of The Arena: Gridiron, the veteran sportscaster said about the multiple-time MVP’s influence over the Pittsburgh Steelers when it came to his commitment for the 2026 season:

“This is a very sad story to me — that the Pittsburgh Steelers are being held hostage by Aaron Rodgers, because they did this to themselves. They found themselves in a position with no more Mike Tomlin, which is going to be a problem. … (He) is washed. He’s done, and he’s been done since his final year in Green Bay.”

He also identified which quarterbacks new head coach Mike McCarthy should play instead:

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“I did like Will Howard when he was at — I know he was surrounded by great talent at Ohio State, but he played pretty well. They won it all. So he showed me something, and yet it’s Mason Rudolph and Will Howard and what they got, the 23rd overall. They’re going to take Ty Simpson and start him next year.”

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Josh Cribbs speaks up on Aaron Rodgers’ chances should multiple-time MVP return for 2026

While Skip Bayless thinks Aaron Rodgers should not don the black-and-gold again, Josh Cribbs is more optimistic on the matter.

During last week’s episode of “The Top Dawgs Show”, the former Cleveland Browns returner said (at 43:45 in the video below):

“I’d be surprised if he could do it twice. … If he makes a commitment to them, I just think, ‘I’m not going to count him out.’ I counted him out last year, I said they’d be last in the league, and he pulled a rabbit out of a hat. I was like, ‘Wow, look at that. Steelers going to the playoffs. Winning season.'”

The Steelers will begin their offseason workout program on April 7.