{"id":726306,"date":"2026-02-03T13:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/726306\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:25:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:25:13","slug":"pittsburgh-steelers-insider-suggests-rodgers-will-return-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/726306\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Steelers insider suggests Rodgers will return in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Pittsburgh Steelers appear to be planning for the return of quarterback Aaron Rodgers for the 2026 season, according to team insider Mark Kaboly. Rodgers played in what many thought would be his final game for the Steelers in their wildcard playoff loss to the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">At the conclusion of last season, head coach Mike Tomlin re-signed, and team president Art Rooney II suggested that Rodgers\u2019 tenure in Pittsburgh may have come to an end, stating that \u201cAaron came to play for Mike.\u201d With the hiring of new head coach Mike McCarthy, however, the team appears to be moving forward with the expectation that Rodgers will return.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cWhat I\u2019ve heard a lot is they\u2019re expecting him to come back,\u201d Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan. They are under the impression that he still wants to play.\u201c<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Unlike last year\u2019s offseason, which extended Rodgers\u2019 decision up to training camp, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.behindthesteelcurtain.com\/pittsburgh-steelers-news\/165871\/steelers-reportedly-give-aaron-rodgers-deadline-to-make-decision-mike-mccarthy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Steelers have reportedly set a one-month timeline<\/a> for his return. If Rodgers does not commit, the organization can proceed with offseason plans without waiting indefinitely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Rodgers, who spent 13 seasons under McCarthy in Green Bay, won a Super Bowl and two MVP awards during his tenure there. Should he return, he would enter his 22nd NFL season and serve as a bridge for the franchise\u2019s future, mentoring potential successors such as second-year quarterback Will Howard or a possible 2026 draft selection.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Steelers appear to be squeezing every last bit of juice out of Rodgers as Father Time quickly approaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers appear to be planning for the return of quarterback Aaron Rodgers for the 2026 season,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,6,520,57,2374,12052,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-726306","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-pittsburgh","11":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-rumors","14":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","15":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116006927813493211","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726306","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=726306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}