Aaron Rodgers had a fine 2025 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. While he clearly wasn’t the same player that he used to be, he was the best quarterback for the Steelers since Ben Roethlisberger. That wasn’t a high bar to clear, but Rodgers wasn’t the team’s biggest issue. However, it’s unclear if he’ll re-sign with them. He could choose to retire, although reports indicate that the Steelers are willing to wait for Rodgers to make a decision. That doesn’t make any sense to analyst Robert Mays, though.
“Everything about this makes me feel like I’m taking crazy pills,” Mays said recently on The Athletic Football Show podcast. “The entire thought around the Mike McCarthy hire being, ‘Now they can get Rodgers back.’ Why? Why is that a good thing? How are you selling this as a positive to me? And the other end of it is Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rogers hit a dead end as a pairing eight years ago.
“It wasn’t two years ago, it wasn’t five. It was eight years ago… I would do anything else other than the Rodgers thing, because he’s going to command what? He’s going to want at least 10 million in order to come back and play. I’d rather have Mac Jones for two [million].”
Rodgers threw for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns, and seven interceptions in 16 games with the Steelers last year. There were times, like the Los Angeles Chargers game, where he looked his age. Father Time has drained much of Rodgers’ athleticism, and pressure seemed to rattle him more.
However, there were other moments where it looked like Rodgers still had plenty of gas left in the tank. Specifically, he played great from towards the end of the season when the team needed him most. The Steelers’ offense finally looked like it was starting to click.
Also, Rodgers’ Steelers teammates have had nothing but good things to say about him. A report stated that many of them asked the team to bring him back once the season ended. His veteran leadership had just as much of an impact as his play on the field.
The Steelers bringing Rodgers back makes more sense than Mays believes it does, especially when considering what they want to accomplish. Art Rooney II doesn’t want to rebuild. He wants the Steelers to compete for a championship. Of the quarterbacks available, Rodgers looks like Pittsburgh’s best option for that goal.
The rest of the quarterback market isn’t too impressive, either. Mac Jones played well in eight starts for the San Francisco 49ers last year, but he’s still under contract with them, and they said they don’t plan on trading him. Also, there’s no telling if he’ll be able to replicate that success with another team. He had multiple seasons before that where he didn’t look very promising.
Are the Steelers likely to be Super Bowl contenders with Rodgers? No. They don’t have many better options, though. Maybe they could get their next franchise quarterback in the draft, but this doesn’t look like the year to take that swing. Pittsburgh could do worse than bringing Rodgers back.
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