Steelers' Mike McCarthy Reveals He's Spoken Already With Aaron Rodgers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially put pen to paper and have made Mike McCarthy the next head coach of the team for the next five years. He is now in the building and ready to get started. The hope is that he can develop a quarterback and get the offense moving on the right track while continuing to build on an already-talented defense. Only time will tell if the organization truly made the right call or not in this situation. 

During his introductory press conference on Tuesday, McCarthy was quickly asked about potentially bringing back quarterback Aaron Rodgers for one more ride. He gave a very straight-forward answer on his mindset of the situation.

"Definitely. I don't see why you wouldn't," McCarthy said. "Just like anything, knowing Aaron long enough, going through seasons, I think when players are up in that stage of their career, they need to step away and decompress. I think that's very important... I was able to sit back and watch the games; I watched most of the Pittsburgh games on TV, and I thought he was a great asset for the team."

Straight from the horse's mouth, the Steelers will welcome Rodgers back to the team with open arms. Later in his press conference he confirmed he's spoken to Rodgers. 

Of course, the 42-year-old has not made his decision yet on if he will play again or not, but if he does, McCarthy will be ready for the reunion. He could have another one-year deal where the four-time MVP can help coach up other offensive pieces before riding off into the sunset back to Malibu. 

There has been plenty of praise about the mental side of Rodgers, as his ability to coach up other players and read defenses has been praised nonstop during his 2025 season in Pittsburgh. The idea for this is that he could help the long-term future by passing his knowledge down to the new generation of Steelers players with the help of his old coach that he won a Super Bowl with. The goal with hiring McCarthy is to develop a quarterback anyways.

On the other hand, Rodgers has been regressing physically. In terms of relatively healthy seasons, Rodgers posted career-worst stats in nearly every category, and at his age, it's hard to see him bouncing back to prime form. He never had 300 yards passing in a game, and he had six games where he threw for less than 200 yards, including the AFC Wild Card game. The questions surrounding his physicality are warranted. 

While ownership made it very clear that they want to win now, bringing in Rodgers feels more like a transition to a win-later mode without actually bottoming out and rebuilding. It's not like he's going to suddenly throw for over 4,000 yards in a season again, but his mental ability could help guys like Will Howard learn to be a professional, and it could potentially lead to success down the road, but not immediately. 

However, there is no single coach in football that knows Rodgers as well as McCarthy. The other hope is that the 62-year-old can push all the right buttons and get his quarterback to show flashes of the generational talent form that everyone saw during the 2010s and early 2020s. That will definitely be a challenge, but if it works, no one will complain about the hire. 

Steelers Still Have Big Decision To Make On Future

The Steelers still need to develop a quarterback for the future. The question is if they're all in on Howard or if there is someone they like enough in the draft to bring in and work through. It feels like a majority of the passer prospects are projects, so it will definitely become a long-term thing if a guy gets selected in the top three or four rounds. The lack of excitement at the position could lead the team to passing on that position completely.

What do you think about McCarthy wanting Rodgers back? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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