While Mike McCarthy is in regular contact with Aaron Rodgers, he maintains the Steelers are preparing for any eventuality. Thus far, the team has made no movements at the quarterback position this offseason—including a contract offer for Rodgers. The only quarterbacks on the roster are Mason Rudolph and Will Howard, but they’re studying this draft class.
Speaking at the league meeting yesterday, McCarthy did acknowledge that he is open to adding a quarterback in the draft, whether Rodgers signs or not. He also discussed the situation more broadly, recognizing the quarterback’s position in life. “I think he’s in a really good spot in his life”, Brooke Pryor quotes him as saying, “but he’s 42”.
The Steelers waited for Aaron Rodgers to sign until minicamp last year, before Mike McCarthy was here. While he signed to play for Mike Tomlin, he has a long history of working with McCarthy in Green Bay. But 2025 was always viewed as a one-year commitment with no guarantees beyond that.
“I think like anything, people talk about having a plan”, McCarthy said of the possibility of Rodgers retiring. “I think you have to have a system of player acquisition. We do every position. So you got to be able to adjust. You got to be proactive with that thought process. … There really aren’t too many scenarios we haven’t talked about”.
The Steelers went 10-7 last season, including 10-6 in the games Aaron Rodgers started. They won the AFC North and advanced to the postseason, but lost in the Wild Card Round. That has been their story for the better part of the past decade, all previously under Tomlin. Now Mike McCarthy is beginning his chapter, but will Aaron Rodgers help him write it?
The original plan for the Steelers heading into the 2026 offseason was to position themselves to draft a quarterback in the first round. That was when everybody expected this to be a much more robust quarterback class, however. With Mike Tomlin re-signing, as well, they have had another layer of challenges to contend with. And while they didn’t hire McCarthy to coax Rodgers back, I’m sure they consider it a fringe benefit.
But as we see, nothing is guaranteed yet. Months ago, the Steelers talked about hoping he would sign by now, GM Omar Khan in particular saying that he didn’t expect it to go as it did last offseason. Right now, Rodgers is giving no indications of doing McCarthy any favors and signing soon, though.
Even if Rodgers doesn’t sign before the draft, or even retires, though, that shouldn’t alter the Steelers’ plans for Mike McCarthy’s first draft class. This would truly be a one-and-done season if he were to return. Unless they plan to draft a rookie quarterback to start this year in the event of his retirement, it really doesn’t change the equation. But if he does retire, they could consider adding another veteran rather than Rudolph or Howard. Or at least bring somebody else in to offer competition.
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