NFL Insider Tom Pelissero Talks Aaron Rodgers/Steelers Latest with Rich

Tom Pelissero made a surprise studio appearance on The Rich Eisen Show to clear up what the Steelers actually did with Aaron Rodgers, and to take a friendly shot from Rich about following Kenny Chesney as a guest.

The news that morning, reported by Adam Schefter, was that Pittsburgh placed a UFA tender on Rodgers. The reaction online ran wild. Some read it as a right of first refusal. Some read it as a sign Rodgers is not coming back. Pelissero said neither read is right.

Here is what the tender actually does. It is a one-year qualifying offer at one hundred and ten percent of what the player made the previous season. For Rodgers that works out to roughly fifteen and a half million dollars. It is used a couple of times a year. Last year JK Dobbins and Elijah Moore both received it. Both signed elsewhere. The tender does not stop a player from going to another team through July twenty-second.

What the tender does do is preserve the Steelers right to compensatory picks. The window for calculating comp picks closed on Monday for unrestricted free agents. The exception is players who carry the UFA tender. If Rodgers does not sign in Pittsburgh and signs somewhere else after an injury or any other shake-up, Pittsburgh would be entitled to a fourth or fifth round comp pick value rather than nothing.

Pelissero reported that the Steelers gave Rodgers and his agent a heads up before placing the tender. It is a formality. Communication continues. Everything still points toward Rodgers returning. The expectation across the league is that if Rodgers plays a twenty-second NFL season, it will be in Pittsburgh with Mike McCarthy, who he talks to often.

Pelissero suggested the offseason additions should make the decision easier. The Steelers added two offensive linemen in the first two days of the draft and a bigger wide receiver. Those are pieces a forty-two-year-old quarterback wants if he is coming back.

The target date Pelissero is watching is May eighteenth, the first day of OTAs. He believes there will be word from Rodgers in the next couple of weeks. If the situation drags to July twenty-second, Rodgers would only be permitted to sign with the Steelers from that point until the tenth week of the regular season.

On the rest of the depth chart, Pelissero called Will Howard the most likely starter in any scenario where Rodgers does not return. Howard reportedly looked good in Pittsburgh's bonus mini camp leading into the draft. Sixth-round pick Drew Allar is developmental. The traits, the size, the arm and the intelligence are there. Penn State tape was a roller coaster. Pelissero called quarterback development McCarthy's bread and butter, the kind of project where a coach who lives in footwork and mechanics can make a real difference. Allar is not starting this year. Mason Rudolph remains on the roster.

Rich pushed back on the idea that this is a sign Pittsburgh wants Rodgers, and Pelissero agreed. The Steelers have been operating all offseason like a team that intends to start Rodgers in week one. The tender just protects the fallback.