6<\/p>\n Rodgers has remained non-committal on his future thus far but could be a good option for the CardinalsCredit: Getty<\/p>\n Even before the campaign got underway, many – Rodgers included<\/a> – expected this to perhaps be the last of what has been a Hall of Fame career that has spanned over two decades. <\/p>\n Knowing that ‘Father Time’ was catching up closely behind him, Rodgers saw marked improvements from his 2024 statistics with the New York Jets<\/a>, completing 65.7 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns to just seven interceptions.<\/p>\n After the season, though, all signs pointed to him wanting to run it back<\/a> with the Steelers. <\/p>\n “Minuscule chance” Rodgers runs it back with Steelers<\/p>\n But Mike Tomlin<\/a> voluntarily walked away from the team<\/a> after 19 years at the helm as head coach, which threw Rodgers’ future into doubt once again. <\/p>\n NFL RUMORS<\/p>\n The appointment as Mike McCarthy<\/a> as Tomlin’s successor, though – a coach whom Rodgers has huge familiarity with<\/a> from their time together at the Green Bay Packers<\/a> – saw some wonder whether the all-time great quarterback’s<\/a> mind had swayed once again.<\/p>\n However, even if Rodgers does decide not to retire yet, there is no guarantee he will remain in Pittsburgh. <\/p>\n According to CBS Sports NFL insider Aditi Kinkhabwala on Wednesday, people around Rodgers believe there’s a “minuscule chance”<\/a> he returns to the Steel City, further noting it’s a personal choice and not a franchise one.<\/p>\n Rodgers linked with Arizona amid Cardinals’ rebuild<\/p>\n Following the Arizona Cardinals<\/a>‘ appointment of Nathaniel Hackett as their offensive coordinator, Rodgers has now been linked with joining the rebuilding NFC West outfit by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. <\/p>\n This comes amid growing speculation that the Cardinals will move on from former No. 1 overall draft pick Kyler Murray. <\/p>\n “Currently, it\u2019s believed that the Steelers will be the only viable option for quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2026. But what about the Cardinals?” Florio wrote on Wednesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n Nathaniel Hackett is the new OC in ArizonaCredit: Getty 6<\/p>\n Hackett’s appointment could make the Cardinals an attractive destination for Rodgers with the two having worked together in Green BayCredit: Getty<\/p>\n “The most obvious link is offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. The Broncos hired him to be the head coach in 2022, at a time when it was believed the Packers would be ready to trade Rodgers.<\/p>\n “That didn\u2019t happen until 2023. By then, Hackett was working for the Jets \u2014 who traded for Rodgers.<\/p>\n “Now, Hackett has landed in Arizona. Which will need a quarterback, if\/when Kyler Murray is traded or released.”<\/p>\n Florio also went on to discuss how Rodgers served under Matt LaFleur<\/a> in Green Bay, whose brother Mike has just become the new head coach in Arizona following Jonathan Gannon’s firing on the NFL’s ‘Black Monday’<\/a>. <\/p>\n Steelers could look at Murray as Rodgers’ replacement in surprise QB ‘swap’<\/p>\n With Rodgers now a free agent, and remaining non-committal on his future, the Steelers have to consider options for who will start under center for them in 2026. <\/p>\n McCarthy is thought to be very high on Will Howard<\/a>, but the former Ohio State Buckeyes star has yet to play a single down at the pro level. <\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n Murray is predicted to have played his final down as a member of the CardinalsCredit: Getty 6<\/p>\n The Steelers locker room is said to be high on rookie Howard but he lacks experienceCredit: Getty<\/p>\n With Mason Rudolph<\/a> the only other contracted QB on the roster, Pittsburgh may be forced to turn to free agency and\/or the trade market to bring in veteran experience at such an important position.<\/p>\n Current Cardinals QB Murray could therefore be considered an option in Pittsburgh. <\/p>\n Murray started five games for Arizona last season, going 2-3 before suffering a foot injury that saw him miss the rest of the season. <\/p>\n Now, the 28-year-old could be one of he marquee QB’s that find themselves on the trade block<\/a> this off-season. <\/p>\n The slightly undersized signal caller who stands at 5-foot-10 is currently playing on a five-year deal worth $230 million that keeps him under contract through 2028. <\/p>\n But due to his age, he is seen by some as a much bigger upgrade to Rodgers, who many have called for to retire now, including that of former Jets GM and Miami Dolphins<\/a> vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum. <\/p>\n \u201cI would clearly move on from him,\u201d\u00a0Tannenbaum said on ESPN\u2019s Get Up<\/a> on Monday . \u201cHe is obviously an all-time great player, Aaron Rodgers is, but he\u2019s going to be 43 in December and you have a new head coach. <\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n Pittsburgh has been tipped as a potential landing spot via trade for Murray<\/p>\n “Give Will Howard a chance and then go scour. Go scour for a veteran, Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins<\/a>, and then look at the draft. <\/p>\n “Beyond Fernando Mendoza, it may not be in the first round, but Aaron Rodgers is really a bridge quarterback, and if you\u2019re in year one with Mike McCarthy, start fresh and bring in competition for Will Howard.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, Yahoo Sports’ Matt Harmon echoes a similar sentiment and is of the belief that a player of Murray’s skillset would actually thrive in a pass game-heavy offense that a coach like McCarthy likes to deploy. <\/p>\n “I thought if Rodgers retires, which he should, I actually think the Steelers make sense as a Kyler team,” Harmon said on the Football 301 podcast<\/a>, released on Wednesday.<\/p>\n “I think he can fit in Mike McCarthy’s offense. I think that actually makes a lot of sense.”<\/p>\n Read More on talkSPORT<\/p>\n Perhaps a quarterback switch, in some shape or form, between the Steelers and the Cardinals could be on the cards.<\/p>\n Stay up to date with the latest from\u00a0the NFL\u00a0across all platforms – follow our dedicated\u00a0talkSPORT USA Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0and subscribe to our\u00a0talkSPORT USA YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0for all the news, exclusives, interviews and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aaron Rodgers has yet to commit his future to the NFL. The 42-year-old spent the 2025 NFL season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[1586,108768,108769,101374,108771,108770,12297,11969,11968,115,265,375,390,2604,1327,2870,7,4827,108767,108765,108766,108764,83278,84890,7866,103038,105971,105970,105969,1255,9070,105966,6,48684,8228,105968,57,105965,505,16165,105967,2183],"class_list":{"0":"post-762586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-aaron-rodgers-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-aaron-rodgers-cardinals","11":"tag-aaron-rodgers-decision","12":"tag-aaron-rodgers-kyler-murray","13":"tag-aaron-rodgers-nathaniel-hackett","14":"tag-aaron-rodgers-news","15":"tag-aaron-rodgers-retirement","16":"tag-aaron-rodgers-steelers","17":"tag-afc","18":"tag-american-football","19":"tag-arizona","20":"tag-arizona-cardinals","21":"tag-arizonacardinals","22":"tag-cardinals","23":"tag-dk-metcalf","24":"tag-football","25":"tag-kyler-murray","26":"tag-kyler-murray-aaron-rodgers","27":"tag-kyler-murray-arizona-cardinals","28":"tag-kyler-murray-pittsburgh-steelers","29":"tag-kyler-murray-steelers","30":"tag-kyler-murray-trade","31":"tag-kyler-murray-trade-rumors","32":"tag-mike-mccarthy","33":"tag-mike-mccarthy-aaron-rodgers","34":"tag-mike-mccarthy-aaron-rodgers-green-bay-packers","35":"tag-mike-mccarthy-aaron-rodgers-packers","36":"tag-mike-mccarthy-aaron-rodgers-steelers","37":"tag-mike-tomlin","38":"tag-nathaniel-hackett","39":"tag-new-steelers-hc","40":"tag-nfl","41":"tag-nfl-2026","42":"tag-nfl-trade-rumors","43":"tag-pittsburgh-nfl","44":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","45":"tag-steelers-nfl","46":"tag-super-bowl","47":"tag-super-bowl-lx","48":"tag-will-aaron-rodgers-play-next-season","49":"tag-will-howard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762586","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=762586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/8-pittsburgh-steelers-runs-field-1030748601.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Offensive](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/offensive-coordinator-nathaniel-hackett-new-1060424889.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Green](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/green-bay-packers-offensive-coordinator-1060424939.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Kyler](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-1880888517.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/18-pittsburgh-steelers-looks-sideline-1054077779.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Kyler](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2235431410.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n