Aaron Rodgers may have been closer to retirement than the Pittsburgh Steelers were aware of. As the veteran quarterback himself admitted, if it had not been for Mike McCarthy taking over Mike Tomlin’s job, he might never have returned to Steel City for the 2026 NFL season.
Retirement is still close, though—just a little ways out and rising on the horizon. Rodgers confirmed 2026 will be his last NFL season, meaning he will retire younger than Tom Brady did. Still, he is excited for the upcoming campaign alongside McCarthy, with whom he won a Super Bowl—his lone Vince Lombardi Trophy—in 2011. In fact, if it had not been for the head coach, Rodgers may have called it a career this offseason.
“I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh. But when the decision was made to hire Mike, I started opening my mind back up to coming back,” Rodgers stated, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
Unfinished business for Rodgers
Had Rodgers closed out his chapter with the Steelers after the 2025 NFL season, a dull feeling would have lingered over his one-year stint in the Three Rivers. The future Hall of Famer and Tomlin‘s offense looked herky-jerky all season long.
Aaron Rodgers #12 and head coach Mike McCarthy.
To make matters worse, their final act is still giving fans in The Burgh nightmares. A whopping 30-6 home loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round extended Pittsburgh’s postseason winless drought to nine straight years. The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season. Not even Rodgers could wash that sour taste out of fans’ mouths.
Still, he’s ready to give it another shot in 2026. Perhaps, a decade later, the curse will finally be lifted. Rodgers has plenty to prove as well. His last postseason victory came during the 2020 season, and he’s gone 0-3 in the playoffs since then.
Rodgers and McCarthy reunite
With Mike McCarthy calling the shots, Rodgers may be in for a trip down memory lane—a return to the glory days. If the longtime coach-quarterback duo still has some magic left, the Steelers may have reason to believe.
If there’s one coach capable of getting the best out of “A-Rod,” it’s McCarthy. He served as Rodgers’ head coach in Green Bay for 13 seasons from 2006 to 2018. During that span, Rodgers won a Super Bowl and captured two NFL MVP awards. If he plays to even a fraction of that level in 2026, Pittsburgh could be in for a magical year.
