Aaron Rodgers Is Officially Back ... What Does It Mean For Steelers Fans?

Aaron Rodgers made his annual offseason headlines this weekend, and in our company chat, I pulled the short stick.

While the deal is yet to be signed, Rodgers is expected to put pen to paper on a one-year, $25M deal with the Steelers this week.

Rogers will enter his 22nd season at 42 years old, coming off a respectable 10-7 run with the Steelers in 2025. But depending on whom you ask, you'll hear different takes on whether this is a good move for Pittsburgh.

Steelers fans who are scared of Mason Rudolph and rookie Drew Allar will tell you this is a great move, keeping the veteran QB on their roster for another year while he mentors Allar for the future.

Steelers fans with optimism will say that their offensive additions in Michael Pittman Germie Bernard and Rico Dowdle—alongside DK Metcalf—are further proof of their ability to chase a ring with Rodgers at the helm.

Steelers fans who have been in a coma for half a decade will tell you $25M is a steal for the QB with 4 NFL MVPs (2nd all-time), 527 passing TDs (4th all-time) and 66,274 passing yards (5th all-time).

And Steelers fans who remember that PIT made the playoffs in 2025 only because of a missed FG by Tyler Loop, resulting in an embarrassing 30-6 loss in the WC round … Will say nothing and quietly put their jerseys in storage for the year.

Pick your poison. But for fantasy purposes, you aren't drafting Rodgers in redraft (and in dynasty, you're trying to sell for pennies on the dollar).

IS MICHAEL PITTMAN THE BIGGEST WINNER?

Fantasy Life Rankings Updated All Offseason

With the NFL Draft behind us, depth charts are “mostly” set. So the Fantasy Life crew has updated the rankings so we can all get an idea where some of our favorite players will get drafted this summer. And they’ll be updated as news breaks.

Are you taking Bijan Robinson or Jahmyr Gibbs 1.01? See what the rankings say.

TAKE ME TO THE FANTASY LIFE RANKINGS

Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy and NFL gossip, news, memes and more from our merry band of football nerds …

📈 His rookie season was on par with Bijan Robinson’s. Are you drafting this RB in 2026?

📛 What’s in a name? When it comes to fantasy teams, it’s everything.

⚡️ This DST can give your fantasy squad an early bolt of electricity.

🎯 Three buy-low targets for your dynasty leagues. A TE gets a new opportunity.

🗓️ Circle these dates on your calendar. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

🤔 Jonathan Taylor or Kenneth Walker? Cast your vote.

Who’s Rising and Who’s Falling In ADP Over The Last 7 Days?

More drafts, more news, more fantasy football ADP shifts.

Draft season is approaching.

Every Monday, we will be taking a look at some of the latest risers and fallers in Underdog best ball drafts. This week, we’re taking a look at a pair of Tampa Bay skill position players, along with a Round 2 wide receiver.

Let’s go.

📈 Ted Hurst | WR | TB

ADP shift: Up 15.6 spots

No player has seen their ADP spike more over the last seven days than Hurst, and it all stems from one report out of Tampa Bay.

Last week, new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson pointed out that Emeka Egbuka will primarily play the “Z” position in the Bucs offense, but also mentioned how Hurst gives the team a true “X.”

Okay then.

Because we’re in May, everyone drafting is running with this news, boosting Hurst’s ADP by nearly 16 spots. And sure, Hurst is a very viable and fun late-round wideout to target, but this report should not be viewed as the Bucs saying “Ted Hurst is our starting outside receiver.” While Egbuka may primarily play the flanker role, he can certainly play the X, too. I also struggle to believe that Hurst is immediately going to take a starting role over Jalen McMillan, who Tampa Bay gave 56% of the routes when healthy from Week 15 on last year.

Given the Egbuka news, the Tampa Bay wideout that should be rising is Chris Godwin, who will man the slot position for the Bucs. Always more efficient from the inside, Godwin’s splits over his last 16 regular-season games are pretty glaring.

Feel free to take shots on both Hurst and McMillan late in drafts. But if you ask me, factoring in value, Godwin (WR42) is the Tampa Bay wideout to draft.

📉 Malik Nabers | WR | NYG

ADP shift: Down 5 spots

We already knew Nabers’ Week 1 status was in question following his ACL tear. Still, he remained a mid-second-round pick in fantasy drafts. But following the report that the Giants’ star wideout underwent a second surgery to clean some things up, his ADP now has him towards the end of Round 2. The Giants have remained hopeful that Nabers will be ready to go for Week 1, though their remarks haven’t exactly screamed confidence. Here’s what Giants GM Joe Schoen said back in January:

“Malik is trending to hopefully be ready for training camp,” Schoen said. “Things can change … but that’s the hope.”

If Nabers continues to get positive updates over the course of training camp, he will (and should) be bumped back to the top of the second round of fantasy drafts. In his lone full season in the NFL, he led the league in target share (35%) and targets per game (11.3), while ranking sixth in fantasy points per game (18.2).

MORE ADP RISERS AND FALLERS

Injury Update On The People’s Tight End

George Kittle suffered his injury in the Wild Card round and, while his recovery seems to be going well this offseason, it remains to be seen if he'll be a full-go for Week 1. If I had to make that bet right now, I would assume he will not be fully ready for the season opener. In fact, our fantasy football projections are in line with that. Here's how they currently look:

13 games played
70 targets
56 receptions
675 receiving yards
4.6 TDs
151 PPR (11.6 PPG)

Ultimately, our projections have Kittle finishing as the TE13. He's currently the TE9 on Underdog, which seems fair. While he may not be fully healthy for the start of the season, we have plenty of evidence to remind us how much of a game-changer he is at a naturally scarce position.

Specific to the 49ers' projections, Kittle is right in line to compete with Ricky Pearsall as the No. 3 pass-catching option behind both Mike Evans and Christian McCaffrey. We've seen this offense support multiple fantasy stars in the past, and this season appears to be no different. In fact, I'm not sure we've ever been more bullish on Brock Purdy. He's slotted in as our QB7 in our early-offseason projections.

Even if Kittle takes a bit to become a full-time player each week, there should be more than enough points scored on this team to support Kittle for however long he's available.

SO … WHAT’S HIS FANTASY VALUE IN 2026?

Published May 18, 2026, 1:00 ET