Aaron Rodgers’ decision for the 2026 season is in.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback will sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, ESPN reported Saturday. Rodgers’ deal will include $22 million in guaranteed money, and potentially allow him to earn up to $3 million more in incentives, according to NFL Media.
Rodgers’ agreement with the Steelers will reunite him with his former head coach, Mike McCarthy, as he prepares for his 22nd season in the NFL. Rodgers, 42, had spent the offseason flirting with retirement, and was initially expected to make a decision around the NFL Draft in April, but the wait continued. Now, he reunites with McCarthy, who was his coach for 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, for the 2026 season.
Rodgers initially signed with Pittsburgh in June of last year following his 13 seasons with the Packers. After Year 1, the veteran quarterback finished the 2025 season with an AFC North title, 3,322 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Rodgers will lead a quarterback room with Mason Rudolph, Will Howard and rookie quarterback Drew Allar from Penn State.
As the Steelers look to win the division for a second year in a row, some aren’t as bullish that they can do that, even with Rodgers returning. Following Thursday’s schedule release, our Ralph Vacchiano predicted that the Steelers would go 8-9 in 2026 under the presumption that Rodgers would be their quarterback. Vacchiano believes that the “Steelers’ season is riding on the old shoulders of Aaron Rodgers.”
“Whoever their quarterback is will immediately have a tougher challenge if Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow can stay healthy, making the AFC North games much more of a minefield,” Vacchiano added. “The Steelers also have to go on the road to New England and Philadelphia, and even their trip to Jacksonville won’t be easy. Playing the NFC South and AFC South gives them plenty of soft spots in the schedule. But finishing first last season gave them their division’s toughest schedule. Given their fragile state, stuck between contending and rebuilding, that’s not much of a prize.”
Vacchiano also had the Steelers drop to No. 25 in his most recent power rankings after Thursday’s schedule release.
“Seven of their last nine games are against teams projected to win 9-11 games. Aaron Rodgers’ 42-year-old body should be aching pretty good by then,” Vacchiano wrote.
Still, McCarthy had expressed a desire for Rodgers to return to Pittsburgh for a second season so he could reunite with the quarterback.
“It would be a great story,” McCarthy said back in March. “I don’t know — and I would love to tell everybody about breaking news, but it’s really cool to see Aaron at [age] 42. To see a young man at 22 and all of what he’s been able to accomplish and where he’s at in his personal life and trying to make this decision. I think he’s in a really good place.”
The Steelers now have their 2026 quarterback with Rodgers returning, and will look to defend their AFC North title and head back to the Playoffs in Year 1 of the McCarthy era.
