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NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero had a positive update on quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s playing status for the 2026 NFL season.
An Aaron Rodgers offseason that started as rather dull has become much more drama-filled in recent days. Pundits for weeks suggested the quarterback was likely to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2026 only to see CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala throw cold water on those suggestions.
However, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero had a new Rodgers update this weekend much closer to the original reports this offseason.
“The odds, as I said on Super Bowl Sunday, they are rising that Aaron Rodgers comes back,” Pelissero told Rich Eisen, via Steelers Depot. “I don’t see it being any place else.
“If he’s going to play, I believe it will be for the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Tom Pelissero to Rich Eisen on Aaron Rodgers returning in 2026: “The odds, as I said on Super Bowl Sunday, they are rising that Aaron Rodgers comes back. I don’t see it being any place else. If he’s going to play, I believe it will be for the Pittsburgh Steelers.” #Steelers #NFL
Will Aaron Rodgers Play in 2026?
To Pelissero’s credit, he’s been pretty consistent about the likelihood Rodgers returns in 2026 to play for the Steelers. Other insiders such as Mark Kaboly have been as well.
On February 13, Kaboly even offered a timeline on when Rodgers could agree to his next contract.
“I fully expect Rodgers to sign with the Steelers within the next month,” wrote Kaboly.
Nothing, though, is official with Rodgers until he signs the dotted line. Kinkhabwala cast significant doubt to that potentially happening when she made an appearance on 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday.
On the radio, Kinkhabwala called the chances Rodgers returns as “minuscule.”
“In conversations with people who were around him all year who were with him when he was leaving the Steelers when the season was over, all of those people that I spoke to said that it seems far more likely that he is done than that he is going to return,” said Kinkhabwala.
Last year, Rodgers didn’t sign until June 5. So, even though Kaboly indicated otherwise, it really wouldn’t be shocking if it took awhile for the quarterback to make his 2026 decision.
When former head coach Mike Tomlin resigned during the first week of the offseason, it appeared Rodgers wouldn’t have an opportunity to come back to Pittsburgh. But in Mike McCarthy, the Steelers hired Rodgers’s former Green Bay Packers head coach.
McCarthy has left the door open to a Rodgers return. Other than Kinkhabwala, insiders have suggested it’s likely to happen.
Steelers QB Plan for 2026
Steelers Nation can feel better about a potential Rodgers return after Pelissero’s update. Pelissero is plugged in as much as anybody, and again, he hasn’t changed his tune this offseason about Rodgers’s immediate future.
But while on one hand it’s a good thing Pelissero hasn’t changed his tune, there also isn’t really anything new on the Rodgers front for the Steelers.
Whether or not the quarterback is expected to return depends on who one asks.
Rodgers completed 65.7% of his passes for 3,322 passing yards with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions last season — his first with the Steelers. He led the team to a 10-6 record during the regular season.
In the playoffs, though, the Houston Texans defense badly outmatched Rodgers and the Steelers offense. Rodgers completed 17 of 33 passes for 146 touchdowns with an interception.
Rodgers will turn 43 years old toward the end of the 2026 regular season.
Dave Holcomb is a sports reporter covering the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions. Originally from Pittsburgh, Holcomb has covered college and professional sports for outlets including FanSided, Rotowire and Yardbarker. More about Dave Holcomb
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