The Terrible Take - Episode 1886 - May 3, 2026

0:00Welcome to The Terrible Take, a daily segment telling Steeler Nation what's on our minds. I'm Melanie Friedlander. Another day passed the 2026 draft and questions still remain regarding the Steelers starting quarterback. Last week, the Steelers placed the rarely used unrestricted free agent tender on Aaron Rogers. While there has been no reports on the reaction from the Rogers camp, it's fair to assume that he wasn't thrilled. Rogers prefers to make his own decisions on his own schedule and this moved by the Steelers places a few limits on that. For the Steelers, it likely has more to do on getting compensation if Rogers signs with another team, but it could be a subtle way of applying pressure on him to make a decision sooner rather than later. Last year, Rogers skipped all of the team's organized team activities, signing just prior to the three-day mandatory mini-camp in June. This year, the Steelers have altered the schedule under new head coach Mike McCarthy. The three-day mini-camp splits the OTAs with six days in May and the final four days in June. For Rogers, that means that signing with the

1:00Steelers prior to the mandatory mini-camp will force him to attend the final four days of OTAs, or be the subject of endless reports discussing why he skipped them. Most of the Steelers' leadership include McCarthy, owner Art Rooney too, and even recently retired head coach Mike Tomlin, all seem confident that Rogers will be back in Pittsburgh for the 2026 season. It's similar to last year when the presumption was that there was a verbal agreement behind the scenes long before the contract was signed. For a quarterback who is masterful in reading the opposing defense and making changes to the play calls at the line of scrimmage, Rogers would be smart to join the team for all of the OTAs this year. With a new offensive coaching staff and a few new wide receivers and offensive linemen, more time spent working on communication would serve the team well. Rogers showed clear frustration when mistakes were made last season and opportunities for a big place fell dead. The best way to avoid that this year is to show up on time. Be sure to follow us at SteelersDepot.com and check out episodes of The Terrible Take every day

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