If Aaron Rodgers wants to play football for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2026, he will do so under Mike McCarthy, his former longtime head coach with the Green Bay Packers. McCarthy was introduced as the new head coach in Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Rodgers, 42, spent the 2025 season on a one-year contract with the Steelers. He’s a free agent this offseason, but also could opt for retirement.
As for whether or not McCarthy would want to coach him again, the 62-year-old Steel City native answered that question today.
McCarthy: Rodgers still a ‘great asset’
During his introductory press conference, McCarthy was asked if his “best-case scenario” included Rodgers as his quarterback in 2026.
“Definitely. I mean, I don’t see why you wouldn’t,” McCarthy said, adding that he had spoken to Rodgers and felt it was important to give the four-time MVP space to make a decision.
“I watched most of the Pittsburgh games on TV, and I thought he was a great asset for the team,” McCarthy added.
Reporter: “In your best-case scenario, do you want Aaron Rodgers back as your quarterback next year?”
Mike McCarthy: “Definitely. I mean, I don’t see why you wouldn’t… I watched most of the Pittsburgh games on TV, and I thought he was a great asset for the team.” 🏈🎙️ #NFL pic.twitter.com/mTRMntnHHI
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 27, 2026
Rodgers started 16 games for Pittsburgh, throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He declined to reveal much about his future immediately following the Steelers’ 30-6 playoff loss to the Houston Texans back on Jan. 12.
“I’m not going to make any emotional decisions at this point,” Rodgers said at the time, via Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein. “Such a fun year. A lot of adversity, but a lot of fun. Been a great year overall in my life in the last year, and this is a really good part of that, coming here and being a part of this team. So it’s disappointing to be sitting here with the season over.”
Steelers willing to wait (for a little) on Rodgers
Rodgers also told Epstein he planned to “just get away and then have the right conversations” before announcing a decision on his future.
Over the weekend, Steelers owner Art Rooney II said the team is willing to give Rodgers some time to decide, while adding that the call to hire McCarthy had nothing to do with trying to get him to return.
“We don’t know what Aaron’s plans are right now, and that did not weigh heavily in the decision,” Rooney said, via the team’s website. “We’ll see where Aaron is, and we’ve left the door open, but obviously we all have to sit down and see if that makes sense. So that’ll happen sometime in the next month or so. But the decision was made based on Mike being the coach we want, and it really had very little to do with whether Aaron is going to be back or not.”
The new league year begins on March 11, so it figures that Rodgers will have his mind made up well in advance of that date.
