Attorney Douglas Herman on the Steelers’ Work Toward the 2026 Season

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Savannah, Georgia, attorney Douglas Herman handles wide-ranging personal injury cases, from automobile accidents to nursing home abuse. A University of Pittsburgh athletics fan, Douglas Herman is also an longstanding supporter of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

For the Steelers, the 2025 season was a positive one, as the team took the AFC North division title with a record of 10-7. Unfortunately, this did not translate into playoff success, as the Steelers were eliminated in a 30-6 route in the wild card game by the Houston Texans.

A key Steelers’ achievement in the 2026 offseason has been locking up veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a one-year contract. Entering his 22nd season, the future Hall of Famer has an incredible track record that includes four MVP seasons and the Super Bowl XLV championship with the Green Bay Packers.

The veteran QB originally signed with the Steelers prior to the 2025 season, where he was intended to serve as a bridge between the team’s old and new generations of stars. With a focus on the 2026 draft class, the Steelers had stockpiled a dozen picks, with the intention of moving up the board and securing a quarterback in the first round. Unfortunately, a draft once considered QB-heavy turned out to have few options, and the Las Vegas Raiders took Fernando Mendoza as first pick overall. The other QB possibility, Ty Simpson, was taken by the Los Angeles Rams at number 13. With limited college experience, he’s considered more of a long-term development prospect than anything.

The Steelers did wind up selecting Penn State’s Drew Allar in the third round as a quarterback prospect with an exceptional arm, but one with many areas in need of improvement. The hope is that Aaron Rogers, who successfully mentored Green Bay’s Jordan Love earlier in his career, and who worked with Will Howard, the Steelers’ 2025 sixth-round pick, will pick up where he left off as a capable mentor.

In tandem with re-signing Rogers for $25 million, the Steelers have given 37-year-old defensive tackle Cameron Heyward an extension. They have also brought in proven veterans such as 29-year-old cornerback Jamel Dean and 28-year-old wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. They are looking to build on the chemistry developed toward the end of the 2025 season, when Pittsburgh went on a winning run of four of its last five games, including a hard-fought Week 18 victory versus the Ravens that earned the team the AFC North title.

In addition to bolstering the offense, the Steelers are looking to shore up their defensive capabilities. Last season, spark-plug safety DeShon Elliott played in only five games before a season-ending injury occurred, requiring surgery. Unfortunately, the Steelers defense was subpar from that point forward. The team has now brought in defensive coordinator Patrick Graham for 2026. With a flexible attitude, Graham speaks of defining team capabilities based on individual performances and growth as the season progresses. As he puts it to team members in practice, where he emphasizes a team-first attitude, “Just play together, man, play together.”