Aaron Rodgers Is Back in Pittsburgh on a $25 Million Deal, and the Steelers Are Going for It
Aaron Rodgers is coming back. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the future Hall of Fame quarterback agreed to a one-year contract Saturday that includes $22 million guaranteed and can be worth up to $25 million with incentives.
This is Year 22 for Rodgers in the NFL. Let that settle in. He won a Super Bowl with Green Bay in 2011, spent 18 seasons as the Packers’ starter, had a truncated stint in New York that ended on a torn Achilles, and now finds himself in his second year with Pittsburgh under a new head coach who is very familiar with him.
Mike McCarthy coached Rodgers for 13 seasons in Green Bay. That relationship is the thread that makes this whole thing work. Pittsburgh hired McCarthy this offseason, and the reunion became the most logical outcome in an otherwise drawn-out offseason saga. Rodgers took his time, the Steelers remained patient, and the deal finally got done in mid-May.
His first year in Pittsburgh worked. He led the Steelers to the AFC North division title and a playoff berth before a 30-6 loss ended their run. That’s a better outcome than most people expected when he joined the team last year, and it gave both sides enough confidence to run it back.
The skeptics will point to his age and his injury history. Those are fair concerns. But Rodgers at 75% is still a better quarterback than most teams have at full capacity. And with McCarthy scheming for him in a system tailored to his strengths, the Steelers are going into 2026 with legitimate AFC contender expectations.
He reports to organized team activities Monday. The Steelers are not rebuilding. They’re going for it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
