After a career that carried him from junior college obscurity to four NFL MVP awards, Aaron Rodgers says the 2026 season will be his last. He’ll spend it in Pittsburgh, reuniting with Mike McCarthy as the Steelers try to build on a strong 2025 run.
One more time around the track, and Aaron Rodgers knows exactly how many laps he has left.
The 42-year-old four-time NFL MVP says the 2026 season will be his last. He’ll spend it in Pittsburgh, reuniting with Mike McCarthy, who is in his first year as Steelers coach. McCarthy and Rodgers won a Super Bowl together during a highly successful run in Green Bay earlier in their careers.
Rodgers is heading into the twilight of a career that is widely expected to end in the Hall of Fame—and along the way, his path has been shaped as much by timing and patience as it has by raw talent.
Rodgers began his climb as an NFL prospect after developing for one year at Butte College and two years at Cal. By the time the 2005 draft arrived, he was viewed as a possibility to go No. 1 overall. Green Bay instead waited, selecting him 24th overall, leaving him to wait longer than many expected.
For three seasons, Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre. His opportunity to start in Green Bay came in 2008 after Favre—who retired briefly and then returned—was traded to the Jets. Rodgers quickly established himself as one of the NFL’s top passers, throwing for 4,038 yards. That performance became the first of 10 seasons during which he would pass for at least 4,000 yards.
In 2010, Rodgers led the Packers to the Super Bowl and then was selected the game’s MVP after throwing for 304 yards and three touchdowns in Green Bay’s 31–25 win over Pittsburgh.
He won the first of his four AP NFL MVP awards in 2011, passing for a career-high and franchise-best 4,643 yards with 45 TDs and just six interceptions. He also set an NFL record with a 122.5 passer rating.
The stretch that followed tested the Packers early. In 2014, Rodgers and the team bounced back from a sluggish 1-2 start to reach the NFC championship game, where Green Bay lost to Seattle. Rodgers capped that season by winning his second MVP award.
Some of Rodgers’ most unforgettable moments came in pressure-packed chaos. In Week 13 of the 2015 season against the Lions. Detroit led the Packers 23-20 and appeared to be in position to win until a defensive facemask penalty was called with no time left on the clock. Green Bay got one more chance. and Rodgers threw a 61-yard pass to Richard Rodgers in the end zone for an unlikely victory.
That completion became the first of Rodgers’ four career completed Hail Mary throws—an NFL record.
Rodgers added another peak season in 2016. throwing a career-high and Packers-record 48 TD passes and setting a personal best with a 70.7 completion percentage on his way to his third AP NFL MVP award. Green Bay made it to the NFC title game again. but lost to Tom Brady and eventual Super Bowl-champion Tampa Bay. Rodgers then went 1-4 in conference championship games and became the first quarterback to lose four straight appearances.
Then came the period that forced a different kind of reckoning. Rodgers missed a game in 2021 after testing positive for COVID-19 and later acknowledged he hadn’t gotten the vaccine. Asked about his vaccination status before the season. he said he was “immunized.” While he took responsibility for being misleading about his status initially. Rodgers also criticized the way NFL protocols impacted unvaccinated players and frequently spoke out regarding his skepticism over the vaccine.
Still, he capped the 2021 season by winning his fourth AP NFL MVP award. He became the fifth player to win consecutive MVPs and the first since Peyton Manning (2008 and 2009). Manning and Rodgers are also the only players to win at least four MVP awards.
By the time his Green Bay story began to close. the numbers had become huge and the disappointment had become sharp. Rodgers signed a three-year contract before the 2022 season with the Packers worth $150.8 million, with $101.5 million guaranteed. At the time, it made him the highest-paid player in North American sports history on an annual basis. He broke his right thumb early in the season but continued playing. The Packers finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs.
On April 26, 2023, Rodgers was traded to New York. The Jets’ expectations spiked with that move; the franchise’s only Super Bowl appearance came in the 1968 season. But everything shifted early. Just four snaps into his debut in the season opener against Buffalo, Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon.
His comeback in New York began unevenly. After returning from the torn Achilles. he started slowly and then dealt with other knee. ankle and hamstring injuries as the Jets got off to a 2-3 start and fired coach Robert Saleh. Rodgers played better down the stretch, but New York finished 5-12 and missed the playoffs for the 14th straight year.
In the season finale, Rodgers became the fifth player in NFL history to throw 500 regular-season TD passes. After that, he said he needed to take some time off to ponder his playing future.
For a career built around big moments, the end in New York arrived with a blunt finality. On Feb. 13. 2025. the Jets said they had informed Rodgers that new coach Aaron Glenn and new general manager Darren Mougey would be moving in another direction at quarterback. Rodgers was released a month later, officially ending his tenure with the franchise.
Pittsburgh, at least for now, feels like the kind of reset Rodgers has always seemed to be looking for. He signed with the Steelers in June 2025 and quickly leaned into the routines and expectations that come with playing for one of the league’s iconic franchises. He took rookie quarterback Will Howard under his wing and won over the locker room with his humor and his cool California swagger.
And then there was the football, too. Rodgers passed for 24 touchdowns against seven interceptions in 2025, leading the Steelers to their first AFC North title since 2020. He also leapfrogged Brett Favre into fourth place on the NFL’s all-time touchdown pass list.
Before he locked in his next step, Rodgers spent four months pondering whether to return. He re-signed with Pittsburgh just before the start of organized team activities and left no room for speculation about whether 2026 would be his last season.
“This is it,” he said.
Aaron Rodgers Pittsburgh Steelers Mike McCarthy 2026 season NFL MVP Jets Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame