Barring injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers and new franchise head coach Mike McCarthy will open the season with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback. However, Rodgers has made it clear that regardless of how this season goes, he intends to hang up his cleats after this season.

With that in mind, former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum believes that former Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby could be the long-term answer in the Steel City.

“From a team-building standpoint, it is so hard to find quarterbacks,” Tannenbaum said. “So there are some teams, in my opinion, non-obvious teams like Minnesota, Atlanta, Carolina, that may sit there and say, ‘Wow, in the second or third round, we may have a quarterback for the next 10 years.’ What about Pittsburgh? And then you layer on teams like Arizona, Miami, the Jets, there’s going to be a bunch of teams that are going to take a long look at this opportunity.”

Sorsby has had a controversial offseason to date. After a drawn-out battle, his collegiate career is over after the NCAA determined he was ineligible after a gambling probe centered around earlier in his career. Sorsby has now applied for the NFL’s supplemental draft, and one longtime Steelers reporter is confirming that the franchise has been interested in the quarterback for a while now.

“Steelers have been looking into Sorsby for months. This isn’t new. This also doesn’t mean they are interested. Means they have been snooping around for some time,” The Pat McAfee Show’s Mark Kaboly reported on Wednesday.

Steelers have been looking into Sorsby for months. This isn’t new. This also doesn’t mean they are interested. Means they have been snooping around for some time.

— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) June 17, 2026

If Sorsby’s application is approved, the supplemental draft is expected to be held in July.