Aaron Rodgers tempted by rebuilding NFC team as Steelers target QB ‘swap’ with unwanted $230m star

Aaron Rodgers has yet to commit his future to the NFL.

The 42-year-old spent the 2025 NFL season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he led them to the AFC wild card round.

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Even before the campaign got underway, many – Rodgers included – expected this to perhaps be the last of what has been a Hall of Fame career that has spanned over two decades.

Knowing that ‘Father Time’ was catching up closely behind him, Rodgers saw marked improvements from his 2024 statistics with the New York Jets, completing 65.7 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns to just seven interceptions.

After the season, though, all signs pointed to him wanting to run it back with the Steelers.

“Minuscule chance” Rodgers runs it back with Steelers

But Mike Tomlin voluntarily walked away from the team after 19 years at the helm as head coach, which threw Rodgers’ future into doubt once again.

The appointment as Mike McCarthy as Tomlin’s successor, though – a coach whom Rodgers has huge familiarity with from their time together at the Green Bay Packers – saw some wonder whether the all-time great quarterback’s mind had swayed once again.

However, even if Rodgers does decide not to retire yet, there is no guarantee he will remain in Pittsburgh.

According to CBS Sports NFL insider Aditi Kinkhabwala on Wednesday, people around Rodgers believe there’s a “minuscule chance” he returns to the Steel City, further noting it’s a personal choice and not a franchise one.

Rodgers linked with Arizona amid Cardinals’ rebuild

Following the Arizona Cardinals‘ appointment of Nathaniel Hackett as their offensive coordinator, Rodgers has now been linked with joining the rebuilding NFC West outfit by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.

This comes amid growing speculation that the Cardinals will move on from former No. 1 overall draft pick Kyler Murray.

“Currently, it’s believed that the Steelers will be the only viable option for quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2026. But what about the Cardinals?” Florio wrote on Wednesday.

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“The most obvious link is offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. The Broncos hired him to be the head coach in 2022, at a time when it was believed the Packers would be ready to trade Rodgers.

“That didn’t happen until 2023. By then, Hackett was working for the Jets — who traded for Rodgers.

“Now, Hackett has landed in Arizona. Which will need a quarterback, if/when Kyler Murray is traded or released.”

Florio also went on to discuss how Rodgers served under Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, whose brother Mike has just become the new head coach in Arizona following Jonathan Gannon’s firing on the NFL’s ‘Black Monday’.

Steelers could look at Murray as Rodgers’ replacement in surprise QB ‘swap’

With Rodgers now a free agent, and remaining non-committal on his future, the Steelers have to consider options for who will start under center for them in 2026.

McCarthy is thought to be very high on Will Howard, but the former Ohio State Buckeyes star has yet to play a single down at the pro level.

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With Mason Rudolph the only other contracted QB on the roster, Pittsburgh may be forced to turn to free agency and/or the trade market to bring in veteran experience at such an important position.

Current Cardinals QB Murray could therefore be considered an option in Pittsburgh.

Murray started five games for Arizona last season, going 2-3 before suffering a foot injury that saw him miss the rest of the season.

Now, the 28-year-old could be one of he marquee QB’s that find themselves on the trade block this off-season.

The slightly undersized signal caller who stands at 5-foot-10 is currently playing on a five-year deal worth $230 million that keeps him under contract through 2028.

But due to his age, he is seen by some as a much bigger upgrade to Rodgers, who many have called for to retire now, including that of former Jets GM and Miami Dolphins vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum.

“I would clearly move on from him,” Tannenbaum said on ESPN’s Get Up on Monday . “He is obviously an all-time great player, Aaron Rodgers is, but he’s going to be 43 in December and you have a new head coach.

“Give Will Howard a chance and then go scour. Go scour for a veteran, Kyler Murray, Kirk Cousins, and then look at the draft.

“Beyond Fernando Mendoza, it may not be in the first round, but Aaron Rodgers is really a bridge quarterback, and if you’re in year one with Mike McCarthy, start fresh and bring in competition for Will Howard.”

Similarly, Yahoo Sports’ Matt Harmon echoes a similar sentiment and is of the belief that a player of Murray’s skillset would actually thrive in a pass game-heavy offense that a coach like McCarthy likes to deploy.

“I thought if Rodgers retires, which he should, I actually think the Steelers make sense as a Kyler team,” Harmon said on the Football 301 podcast, released on Wednesday.

“I think he can fit in Mike McCarthy’s offense. I think that actually makes a lot of sense.”

Perhaps a quarterback switch, in some shape or form, between the Steelers and the Cardinals could be on the cards.

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