{"id":666879,"date":"2026-01-10T19:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T19:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/666879\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T19:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T19:28:13","slug":"steelers-expected-to-welcome-back-aaron-rodgers-next-year-if-he-decides-to-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/666879\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers expected to welcome back Aaron Rodgers next year if he decides to play"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Steelers will welcome back quarterback Aaron Rodgers if he decides to play next season, according to <a data-i13n=\"cpos:1;pos:1\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rapsheet\/status\/2010053103756652789?s=46\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:NFL Network&#039;s Ian Rapoport.;cpos:1;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">NFL Network&#8217;s Ian Rapoport.<\/a> In June, Rodgers signed a one-year, $13.65 million contract with the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>Going into the season, Rodgers was expected to retire after the season ended. After leading the Steelers to a 10-7 record and an AFC North Championship, the door has reportedly opened for the 42-year-old quarterback to play another season. While Rodgers is undecided on his future, the Steelers would love to bring him back.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He is playing well enough, from my understanding, the Steelers have really enjoyed the experience and would be more than open to it,&#8221; Rapoport said. &#8220;They hope to get an answer sooner rather than later, like they did last offseason.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>On December 31, Rodgers told reporters that he would evaluate his options when the season ends.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m 42, and I&#8217;m on a 1-year deal. You know what the situation is. Whenever the season ends, I&#8217;ll be a free agent. That\u2019ll give me a lot of options if I still want to play \u2014 Not a lot of options, but \u2026 I would think maybe 1 or 2 if I decide I still want to play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After getting cut by the Jets in March, Rodgers considered retiring before signing with the Steelers. Rodgers rewarded the Steelers&#8217; patience, throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and 7 interceptions this season in 16 games. Rodgers missed time this season with a wrist fracture.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>If Rodgers decides to retire, longtime Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph and rookie quarterback Will Howard are under contract next season.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers will play the Houston Texans in the wild-card round of the playoffs on Monday. This is Rodgers&#8217; first playoff appearance since 2022, when he was with the Green Bay Packers.<\/p>\n<p>This story will continue to be updated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers will welcome back quarterback Aaron Rodgers if he decides to play next season, according to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666880,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[1586,117,7,345,253,5328,226,560,6,520,57,2360,426,2183],"class_list":{"0":"post-666879","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-baltimore-ravens","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-green-bay-packers","12":"tag-houston-texans","13":"tag-ian-rapoport","14":"tag-jets","15":"tag-mason-rudolph","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-pittsburgh","18":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","19":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","20":"tag-steelers","21":"tag-will-howard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115872458616150177","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}