Anybody with a brain knew that Aaron Rodgers was returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2026. It made sense for everybody involved. The Steelers weren’t going into the season with Mason Rudolph or Will Howard as their QB1, and they upgraded the offensive weaponry. Rodgers said that last season was his last, but he went back on that when he signed a one-year deal with the Steelers on Saturday night. He was spotted in Pittsburgh getting ice cream with Rudolph, Pat Freiermuth, and Ben Skowronek, and the rest was history. His new deal is worth up to $25 million with incentives.
Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers did great things together in Green Bay, including stealing Super Bowl XLV from the Steelers. 15 years later, they are teaming up in the Steel City. The duo has won 107 games together, including the playoffs, the ninth most by a head coach-starting quarterback duo in the Super Bowl era. To put it in perspective, Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger won 144 games together in Pittsburgh.
McCarthy coached Rodgers in his first 13 seasons, including his first 11 years as a starter. They finished above .500 in 10 of those 13 seasons. The people of Pittsburgh get nauseous at the talk of winning seasons, but they should expect McCarthy and Rodgers to deliver another one for them. Rodgers is on the record expressing his love for McCarthy’s West Coast offense. Now, he gets to run it again in the black and gold. He’s 42 years old, but he can still produce fireworks in this offense.
In his elder years, Rodgers isn’t the ideal quarterback anymore. His glory days are clearly behind him, but there are a plethora of reasons to be happy that he is returning to the Steelers in 2026. Arthur Smith is gone. The handcuffs are off the Pittsburgh offense. For the first time in a long time, Steelers fans should be excited to watch their offense. McCarthy knows offense. His teams in Dallas were always high-powered in that department.
Last season, Rodgers completed 65.7% of his passes for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. That was in Arthur Smith’s Dollar Tree offense with a weak set of weapons. Omar Khan made it a priority to upgrade that department this offseason. Now, Rodgers will get to throw to Michael Pittman and Germie Bernard, along with a familiar face, D.K. Metcalf. Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington should see an uptick in production in the new offense. Rodgers has nice toys this season.
The offensive ecosystem in Pittsburgh will be the healthiest that it has been since the Killer B era. It’s going to be a breath of fresh air in the Steel City. Rodgers is physically limited, but his mind is still as sharp as a tack. He is going to be able to compute this offensive scheme and spit out results in his sleep. The offensive line keeping him on his feet will be imperative to success. If they do that, Rodgers has an opportunity to rival what Tom Brady did in Tampa Bay at 43 years old.
Many Steelers fans weren’t happy with the team waiting on Rodgers to make his decision, but it didn’t harm their approach to the offseason. Love or hate him, he raises Pittsburgh’s floor in 2026. Of course, they aren’t currently a Super Bowl contender, but there weren’t any quarterbacks available this offseason that would’ve shot them into that stratosphere. Rodgers was the Steelers’ best option this season, and he will provide another year of great mentorship for Will Howard and now Drew Allar. The road to 10-7 awaits Pittsburgh. Winning a playoff game is the hard part.
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