Nothing is certain with Aaron Rodgers until he signs on the dotted line. Pittsburgh Steelers fans learned that lesson last year, when the will-he, won’t-he saga dragged on until June. So while most reporters suggest Rodgers’ return to Pittsburgh is highly likely, it may be worth listening to a dissenting voice who hears differently.
“Having spoken to people who were around him, who have been around him, most everyone that I’ve spoken to who has been around him feels that the chance that he comes back to play is minuscule, so you take that for what it’s worth,” CBS Sports’ Aditi Kinkhabwala said on 93.7 The Fan’s PM Team. “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.”
Despite entering the 2025 season with plans to make it his last, Rodgers changed his tune throughout the course of the year. By training camp, he was already telling teammates “maybe,” and openly discussed having “options” for the 2026 season.
With Mike Tomlin stepping down, Rodgers’ departure seemed like a foregone conclusion, but then the Steelers hired his former head coach, Mike McCarthy, along with several former assistants with whom Rodgers is familiar. McCarthy spoke openly about Rodgers return being “the plan.”
If that wasn’t enough, basically every national and local reporter has been discussing his imminent return for the last few weeks.
Rodgers deciding to retire or go elsewhere would be more surprising than a return at this point, but at least one reporter sees things differently.
In the event Rodgers doesn’t return, McCarthy was quick to talk up Will Howard as somebody he is excited to work with. Kinkhabwala sees that as a savvy move by McCarthy and the Steelers with uncertainty around the future Hall of Famer.
They wouldn’t enter the year with everything riding on Will Howard or even Mason Rudolph. Which begs the question of what the plan might be to fill out the room and identify a starter for the 2026 season.
Asked if pending FA QB Malik Willis and Aaron Rodgers had equal chances of being the Steelers’ starting QB next year, Kinkhabwala replied, “Yes.”
Free agency is less than a month away, so it shouldn’t be long before Aaron Rodgers informs the Steelers of his intentions.
While a return still appears likely, at least one well-connected reporter believes the Steelers are quietly bracing for a different outcome.