Steelers Want Aaron Rodgers Back

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have been linked to so many quarterbacks over the last few years that it's hard to not name any available name an option for them. But if they get it their way in 2026, their current starter will be back.

The Steelers didn't find their next franchise quarterback in Aaron Rodgers, but may have if they signed him two years ago instead of the New York Jets. They'll take what they can get out of him, though, and whenever this season ends, they hope they get one more run with him.

Team sources have told Steelers On SI throughout the season that Pittsburgh would love to have Rodgers back next season. Now, with the playoffs upon them, that sentiment has only grown stronger, and the orginization is excited about the growth that would come with a second season.

Rodgers May Agree

Rodgers isn't willing to talk about his future just yet. When asked about the end of his career before the team's Week 18 game, the made it clear that the time for that decision will come, but right now, he's not thinking about it.

"You know, obviously I'll talk to my wife, and then hopefully that's a decision down the line, but I'm not really going to talk about right now," Rodgers said.

However, the understanding of a "second year" is something Rodgers knows the importance of. Maybe an understanding that could push him to grant the Steelers' wish this offseason.

"Anytime you're in a first-year offense, there's always some growing pains within the offense," Rodgers said. "It's always you feel like if you had another year, you know what you could do. I look at the way I played in 2019 and then kind of the adjustments we made in the off season, and then the way I played in 2020, which was just in a whole kind of different level. I felt like, and I used to tease LaFleur about this all the time, I was a game manager in 2019 and a game impactor in 2020 and 2021. I think a lot of that's just familiarity with the offense and with the guys. We've done the best we could with our conversations and our meeting time outside the facility and our meeting time in the facility. But obviously, the more years you get in asystem with the same guys, the more continuity you have, the better you feel like you can play."

Steelers Run Doesn't Change Much

If the Steelers win the Super Bowl, things can obviously change. Once a franchise wins a Lombardi Trophy, they start thinking about running it back again, but the older players think about walking away at the top.

At 42-years-old, Rodgers may say that's enough for him and he's ready to sail off into the sunshine at the top.

Anything less, and the Steelers are going to be thinking about how close they are to a Super Bowl run. How they can spend the offseason building around Rodgers and creating an even better roster for 2026.

They're ready to delay the process of finding their next rookie quarterback if needed. Because if Rodgers isn't ready to hang up his cleats for the last time, the Steelers are hoping he returns to Pittsburgh for another year.

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