In the last few weeks all signs have been pointing to Aaron Rodgers returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second season.
But now there is some mounting belief among insiders that Rodgers’ return might not be the case. CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala stated Wednesday that she’s heard it’s “far more likely” that Rodgers retires than returns to the Steelers.
Now, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler is the latest to raise some doubts about a Rodgers-Mike McCarthy reunion in Pittsburgh.
“I just checked on this. The Steelers remain open to a potential Aaron Rodgers reunion, but they gotta figure out if he wants to play or not yet. That could take months, as you pointed out,” Fowler said Thursday morning on ESPN’s Get Up.
The Steelers haven’t wavered on wanting Rodgers back for the 2026 season, especially since he and first-year head coach Mike McCarthy have a long, successful history together. McCarthy stated in his introductory press conference that he wants Rodgers back, too.
The ball is in Rodgers’ court though.
At the end of the 2025 season following the playoff loss, Rodgers stated he was going to take some time to figure things out. He added he believed that if he did want to play in 2026, he’d have more than a couple of options. The Steelers want him back, but that other option might be the Minnesota Vikings.
Despite the Vikings potentially being interested, Steelers teammates have made it known they want Rodgers back, and NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported just 11 days ago that odds of Rodgers returning to Pittsburgh were increasing. Even local reporter Mark Kaboly stated he expects Rodgers to re-sign with the Steelers within the next month.
Yet, Fowler believes things could take months with Rodgers once again.
Remember, last offseason Rodgers didn’t sign until early June as things were drawn out. That could happen once again this offseason, especially if the Steelers are willing to wait on the 42-year-old Rodgers.
Hopefully that isn’t the case and Rodgers is ready to re-up with the Steelers to work with McCarthy once again. If not, he needs to give the Steelers a chance to pivot at the position in free agency and in the 2026 NFL Draft, a draft in which Fowler has reported the Steelers have done a ton of work on the QB position.
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