Steelers' Aaron Rodgers says he plans to retire after season - ESPN

PITTSBURGH — Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Wednesday that the 2026 season will be the last of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.

«Yes. This is it,» Rodgers said when asked if this would be his final NFL season.

The four-time NFL MVP signed a one-year contract worth up to $25 million with the Steelers this week, reuniting with coach Mike McCarthy, his coach for 13 seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

Aaron Rodgers enters his 22nd — and final — NFL season ranked at least in the top seven in most major QB categories. Only Peyton Manning (5) has won more NFL MVP Awards than Rodgers (4).

Rodgers, though, added that he thought his career in Pittsburgh was over after former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin resigned following the team's wild-card playoff loss to the Houston Texans in January.

«When he said he was stepping away, that was an emotional moment just because we all love him so much and care about him, and I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh,» Rodgers said. «But when the decision was made to hire Mike, I started opening my mind back up to coming back.»

Rodgers said he suggested general manager Omar Khan consider McCarthy as a candidate for the Steelers' head coach opening early in the offseason, but he wasn't sure how seriously his former head coach would be considered.

«I encouraged him for an outside perspective to interview Mike,» Rodgers said. «Not thinking that he even would, honestly, just because the way the league goes and the trend, it's kind of like whoever worked with Sean [McVay], Kyle [Shanahan] or one of those guys, Matt [LaFleur] now gets a lot of looks and multiple guys in those trees have.

»But then when it became more serious, I was thinking, 'Wow, that'd be a really interesting