Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 4, 2026. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
PHOENIX — The Pittsburgh Steelers are operating as if Aaron Rodgers is returning for the 2026 season, and it’s just a matter of when, not if.
Speaking at the 2026 NFL Owners Meetings on Monday, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy said that he’s been in regular contact with Rodgers, whose contract with the Steelers expired early in March, and does not appear to be sweating the timeline of the 42-year-old former MVP making a decision about his future.
“He’s really engaged into what’s going on,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been talking weekly, every couple of days. We’ll just continue to do that.”
McCarthy didn’t directly answer a question about whether he would be OK with Rodgers skipping OTAs, as he did in 2025, when he signed with the team immediately after the voluntary portion of the offseason program.
“The hypotheticals … I’m just focused on my next conversation with him. He’s engaged with what’s going on.”
He also said that there isn’t a specific time where they would need to have Rodgers involved in the offseason program, which starts next week back in Pittsburgh.
“Player acquisition, it never stops and you’ve got to approach it that way. We’re preparing for our players to come in next week and we want to give them the information on how we’re going to operate. He’s at that extreme level. I don’t think he had any issues learning the offense.”
The Steelers don’t have many other options remaining in the quarterback free agent market at this point, with most of the other available veterans having already found teams, but they haven’t been pursuing any of them, yet another sign that the Steelers are once again planning on Rodgers being their quarterback in 2026.
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