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Steelers GM Wants Aaron Rodgers Back, Expects Things to Go Differently This Offseason

Aaron Rodgers brought the Steelers to the playoffs last season.
Aaron Rodgers brought the Steelers to the playoffs last season. | Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

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The Steelers have their eyes on a familiar quarterback this offseason, according to general manager Omar Khan. Speaking with the media ahead of the combine Khan told reporters that "the door's open" to have Aaron Rodgers return for another season and the quarterback, "knows how we feel about him."

Khan revealed that he had been in contact with Rodgers and it doesn't sound like the team is expecting another prolonged decision-making period from the future Hall of Famer.

Last year Rodgers met with the team under cover of a Chevy Malibu in March, but didn't make his decision until June, just ahead of mini-camp. A year before that Rodgers missed mandatory mini-camp with the Jets because he had gone to Egypt instead.

Rodgers simply telling telling the Steelers whether or not he'll play for them in '26 early in the offseason would certainly be different, but in Khan's own words, "I don't see this going like it did last year." It's already been a rollercoaster with reports that the team wanted him back and he probably wasn't coming back.

After the season longtime coach Mike Tomlin parted ways with the Steelers, which left Rodgers in tears. The team then replaced Tomlin with Rodgers's former coach in Green Bay, Mike McCarthy.

Rodgers, 42, threw for 3,332, 24 touchdowns and a Rodgers-esque seven interceptions in 16 games last season. Then he struggled against a tough Texans defense in the playoffs and potentially ended his career by throwing a pick-six. One more season with McCarthy and the Steelers would give him a chance to change that.


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Stephen Douglas
STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.

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