The Steelers didn’t need to do this.

Mike McCarthy doesn’t need to do this.

Late Saturday evening, white smoke emerged over St. Paul Cathedral, signalling the wait had ended, and a new $25 million contract had been signed by Aaron Rodgers to return to the Steelers for the 2026 season.

McCarthy doesn’t need nor deserve to be held hostage by, nor hitch his wagon to the now 42-year-old quarterback who pulled the strings behind the scenes when the former Packers head coach was run out of Green Bay.

Pittsburgh didn’t need to do this.

As an organization, and a quarterback room, Pittsburgh is far better positioned today than it was the last time it spent nearly an entire offseason program waiting for Aaron Rodgers to decide on the eve of mandatory minicamp that he would become a Steeler last spring.

That was just before Rodgers only surpassed 250 passing yards three times last season, failing to pass for more than 200 yards five times, and ultimately overseeing an embarrassing performance where the Houston Texans defense outscored the Steelers’ offense in a dreadful 30-6 drubbing in the AFC Wild Card Playoffs.

Rodgers, again, spent much of the spring playing puppeteer with the media, with general manager Omar Khan, with McCarthy, stringing the Steelers along, even going so far as to visit Pittsburgh last weekend without visiting the Rooney Sports Complex, or the team before agreeing to a contract with a maximum value of $25 million, should he reach various incentives.

Unlike a year ago, though, the Steelers have two young quarterbacks, Will Howard, chosen in the sixth round of last spring’s NFL Draft, and Drew Allar, chosen in the third round last month.

Also, unlike year ago, Rodgers returns with the Steelers in the throes of OTAs, set to gobble up every first-team practice rep that could have been split between Pittsburgh’s young starters this spring, to prepare and evaluate them for the possibility of having to play this fall.

While both Howard and Allar are each flawed prospects, they both have the traits and the upside to offer Pittsburgh the opportunity to legitimately evaluate their future at the most important position in sports.

Allar, in particular, is the kind of player worth investing a season in playing and evaluating to see if he can offer more than limping to a 10-7 finish and postseason appearance, aided by a well-intentioned priest spritzing Holy Water in the end zone where Ravens kicker Tyler Loop later missed a field goal that punched the Steelers’ playoff ticket …

Drew Allar arrived in Happy Valley as the prize of Penn State’s 2022 recruiting class; the No. 1-ranked high school quarterback in America, along with the accompanying pressure to deliver the Nittany Lions a national championship at some point over the next four years.

Allar lands in Pittsburgh as a third-round rookie, with far lower expectations, but a potentially loftier ceiling than ever.

While Allar navigated his share of challenges at Penn State, he did guide the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff Semifinals as a junior.

Allar then returned for what became a disastrous senior campaign that saw him complete 64 percent of his passes for 1,100 yards with eight touchdowns to three interceptions, including a back-breaking overtime pick in a loss to Oregon before breaking his ankle two weeks later, ending his final season after just six weeks.

“He has high-level arm talent,” an AFC South Scouting Director tells Between The Hashmarks of Allar. “Inconsistent production, but has the arm, has the ability to throw from the pocket, and to throw on the move.”

Those are clearly some of the traits that the Steelers saw in Allar, before selecting him with the No. 76 overall pick, in the shadow of Acrisure Stadium, making him a potential developmental project, or a possible fallback option on Rodgers.

Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin was instrumental in bringing Allar to Penn State, coached him for three-plus seasons, and has heard from the public and coaches across the NFL about Allar’s upside from nearly the moment he stepped on campus as a freshman from nearby Medina, Ohio.

“He’s got a ton of traits,” Franklin told Between The Hashmarks, during a recent phone conversation. “That people have been talking about for the last two years. He’s big, strong, more athletic than people realize, and he has the ability to make any throw on the field.

“There have been people talking about Drew and his potential for the past two years, and he’s shown flashes of brilliance. So, yeah, I think there are enough tools there that he has the chance to become a franchise quarterback. But, just like with all of these players, it’s about consistency.”

Inconsistency has been the consistent drag both on Allar’s draft stock, and on the public’s perception of him as a quarterback.

For every dart thrown through traffic in a must-have touchdown drive against Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game, there’s the inexplicable interception against Notre Dame in the Playoff. For every 392-yard, two-touchdown and three-interception performance while leading a comeback victory over USC, there’s an inexplicable 146-yard and one-interception letdown against Ohio State.

The Steelers' selection of Allar is a bet on traits, and on Mike McCarthy’s coaching staff’s ability to harness them.

A report from ESPN’s Brooke Pryor emerged last week that the Steelers are effectively rebuilding Allar the quarterback from the ground up this spring.

"[The Steelers] are essentially uninstalling everything he's learned, and they're reuploading their own methods and fundamentals and mechanics with Allar," Pryor said, during a recent SportsCenter appearance. "I watched Mike McCarthy and quarterback coach Tom Arth be very intentional with Allar. He was running at about half speed, working on his footwork throughout that practice. Allar said afterward that they're working on widening his base and keeping him off his toes. And that's something that Mike McCarthy said is going to help him process even more and just move faster throughout things as he gets acclimated to the NFL."

Franklin tells me that he believes that additional work McCarthy is putting in with Allar may be the best thing for the 22-year-old at this stage.

“The structure, and the time, and the coaching he’s going to get,” Franklin says are keys to Allar reaching that franchise-quarterback potential. “Obviously, Mike McCarthy’s got a phenomenal history, going back to his time in Green Bay as a quarterbacks coach.

“It was great to see the stuff that they’re doing with him. He’s the only quarterback there. They’re going through everything in detail, exactly how they want it.”

These sessions in the lab and on the field during rookie minicamp may be the most time that McCarthy and offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio will have to dedicate to Allar now that Rodgers has returned.

“In a lot of ways,” Franklin says. “Drew is like a piece of clay. He has the ability to take coaching and translate it to the field, and I’m not just talking about the scheme aspect. I’m talking about … okay, if you want to tweak his footwork, this is a guy who is going to grind on that, to change it. If you want to make a subtle tweak to his throwing mechanics, he’s going to grind on what you tell him to do.

“So, yeah, I think there’s these traits, and if you go back and watch, it is remarkable to see the changes Drew made, going back from 9th or 10th grade to who he ended up being as a senior in high school, and then through college. You’ve seen it, a lot of people have seen it, he’s got 12 to 20 throws the past two years of his college career, as good throws as anybody.

“To me, that’s always the fine line with NFL scouts and coaches, they’re looking for these traits, and what they’re trying to do is how can we take those traits and those flashes and make it more consistent.”

It’s clear that despite Allar’s throw-to-throw and game-to-game inconsistencies, Franklin believes Allar not only has a lofty NFL ceiling but also the character and the drive to actually reach it.

The Steelers have invested resources on offense in recent years in trading for wide receivers DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr., selecting offensive tackle Troy Fautanu in the first round of the 2024 draft, and developing running backs Jaylen Warren and Kaleb Johnson, to set their quarterback up for success.

Those investments, and the infrastructure of Pittsburgh’s staff, could be most vital to Allar becoming the quarterback Franklin and staff envisioned when he committed to the Nittany Lions back in 2022, and potentially now having the chance to write the next chapter of Steelers lore. Though, that last part will have to wait at least a year.

“It’s going to be the quarterbacks coach, it’s going to be the offensive coordinator, it’s going to be the head coach,” Franklin says, will be the biggest keys to Allar succeeding in the NFL. “But, the other thing is, it’s going to be the talent around him. What do they have at tight end? What do they do in the running game? What do they have at wide receiver? We know they have a couple of difference-makers at that position.

“A couple of difference-makers on the outside, for the quarterback, and a running game, those are a quarterback’s best friend. As you know … we had some challenges there. We were able to run the ball, and we had some tight ends that were making good plays and some wide receivers who flashed at times, but we weren’t consistent enough, and we didn’t scare people enough at wide receiver, so that put Drew in some challenging situations, too.”

If McCarthy and Franklin are right, and Allar can overcome the issues that dogged him throughout his collegiate career, the Steelers just may have found the insane value of a franchise quarterback in the third round.

“If he develops,” the AFC Scouting Director says. “He can be a very productive starter in this league.”

The Steelers very clearly missed an opportunity here.

Pittsburgh missed the chance to play Allar in meaningful game action as a rookie. Because, if he reaches the potential Franklin and McCarthy see in him, great. But, if not, the Steelers would have known that they need to aggressively maneuver their way to the top of a 2027 draft board that is expected to be loaded with premier franchise-caliber quarterback prospects.

“I think he’s got a ton of upside,” Franklin said. “And potential. And, there’s nobody that’s rooting and pulling harder for Drew and the Steelers than me.”

Playing Aaron Rodgers offers none of that upside.

Playing a declining Rodgers may give Pittsburgh the best chance to win 10 games in 2026, but what exactly does that offer the Steelers in terms of positioning the franchise to legitimately compete for Super Bowls, again?

The Steelers didn’t. Need. To. Do. This.

Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs are about to make stupid money.

There has been a running back renaissance over the past three seasons, both on the field and at the negotiating table.

Saquon Barkley surpassing 2,000 rushing yards in 2024 to Derrick Henry emerging as an ideal fit as the Baltimore Ravens’ ultimate force multiplier while rushing for 16 touchdowns apiece each of the past two seasons are proof of concept for two contenders. Ashton Jeanty and Jeremiyah Love, each being chosen inside the top-six picks of the past two drafts, show that teams are suddenly coming around to the idea of running backs mattering.

All of this is coinciding with two of the most explosive, elusive, and electrifying running backs being on the verge of cashing in.