Maybe the Steelers still have a chance of keeping Aaron Rodgers after all — and perhaps one of the candidates for their coaching vacancy could help with that.
ESPN reported Sunday that the Steelers still “remain open” to bringing Rodgers back for 2026, casting a different outlook than an NFL Network report from Saturday that stated the 42-year-old quarterback’s future with Pittsburgh was “in doubt.”
Returning to the Steelers still remains unlikely for Rodgers because of Mike Tomlin stepping down as head coach following their loss to the Texans in the wild-card round Monday, according to ESPN, even as players have reportedly expressed a desire for the four-time league MVP to return.
Aaron Rodgers walks off the field following the Steelers’ game against the Texans on Jan. 12. Robert Sabo for the NY Post
Adding to that wrinkle were reports from Sunday about Pittsburgh’s plans to speak with Mike McCarthy — who coached Rodgers for 12 years in Green Bay — for its vacancy.
With the Packers, Rodgers and McCarthy overlapped for 12 seasons, and McCarthy helped his signal-caller develop into a player who won two of his four MVP awards and guided Green Bay to a Super Bowl win to cap the 2010 season.
But their relationship was also polarizing.
In 2019, an anonymous Packers player described it to Bleacher Report as “a large cancer in the locker room.”
McCarthy was relieved of his duties from the Packers midway through the 2018 season.
By the time McCarthy made his return to Lambeau Field as the Cowboys’ head coach in 2022, though, Rodgers said that he was “thankful for those years and thankful maybe a little bit more now as the years go by,” according to an ESPN article at the time.
Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy are pictured during a November 2018 game. AP
It’s unclear if Rodgers — who plans to take time before deciding on his future, according to ESPN — would be open to a reunion with McCarthy if the Steelers were to hire the 62-year-old and Pittsburgh native, who has gone 174-112-2 across 18 regular seasons as a head coach.
The Cowboys and McCarthy parted ways after the 2024 season, and he didn’t coach this season.
Rodgers, though, helped the Steelers win the AFC North before crumbling in the opening round of the postseason. He threw for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions this year.
It helped him revive his career after a brutal Achilles injury in 2023 and an underwhelming campaign with the Jets in 2024, looking like a shadow of the future Hall of Famer who won four MVP awards altogether in Green Bay — including another when Matt LaFleur eventually took over.
But even Steelers owner Art Rooney II admitted that Tomlin’s shocking exit — after 19 years as head coach — could impact Rodgers’ decision, telling reporters following the season that Rodgers signed with Pittsburgh in the first place because of Tomlin, “So I think it will most likely affect his decision.”