‘Stubborn’ Aaron Rodgers is already pushing back on Steelers coach Mike McCarthy’s new offense

Aaron Rodgers is giving one last year to the NFL.

The 42-year-old quarterback has returned to the Pittsburgh Steelers for the 2026 NFL season, penning a one-year deal worth $22 million which could rise to as much as $25 million based on performance incentives.

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After the 2026 season, which will be Rodgers’ 22nd year in the league, the future Hall of Famer has already signalled his intentions to retire.

“This is it,” he confirmed on Wednesday.

Rodgers is coming off the back of a 2025 campaign in which he completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 3,322 yards and 24 touchdowns, all while firing just seven interceptions in the Black and Yellow uniform.

In doing so, the Steelers went 10-7 to clinch the AFC North title, getting a crucial win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17 to secure their playoff berth, although they wound up on the losing side of a 30-6 dismantling at the hands of the Houston Texans.

Then, the organization underwent a huge period of change as Mike Tomlin walked away from his role as head coach after a near two-decade tenure at the helm in favor of a TV career with NBC.

Enter Mike McCarthy, who had Rodgers as his quarterback when the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl XLV back in 2011.

The four-time NFL MVP later revealed that it was McCarthy’s hire that made him reconsider returning to Pittsburgh for his retirement tour.

“I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh,” he said, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, when discussing Tomlin’s departure.

“But when the decision was made to hire Mike [McCarthy], I started opening my mind back up to coming back.”

‘Battle’ between Rodgers and McCarthy

The reunion between Rodgers and his former head coach hasn’t been as harmonious as many believed.

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In fact, it has been quite the ‘battle’ between the pair during OTAs, according to Rodgers himself.

Since their time together in Green Bay, McCarthy moved on to the Dallas Cowboys where he coached Dak Prescott, which saw some changes particularly when it comes to language used.

“He’s changed some stuff when he was in Dallas with Dak,” Rodgers said. “I’ll battle on a couple things that I’ll be stubborn about, terminology-wise.

“I think part of the process is just growing. Me having to adjust some of the stuff that I’ve done or terminology I like. So it’s a fun learning experience right now.

“There’s a couple times a today he’s calling plays in the huddle, and I’m asking, what does this mean? It’s stuff that we used to run, but he’s just called it something different now. So, it’s a good part of the learning process.”

With that being said, nothing about McCarthy’s approach to coaching in Pittsburgh has taken Rodgers by surprise.

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“I think it’s just the next generation of the West Coast offense,” Rodgers added when asked about how McCarthy’s offense has evolved.

“It went kind of Bill Walsh to kind of what Mike was doing with Paul Hackett, and then it’s kind of grown from there. It’s incorporated some of the schematic stuff from the offenses around the league, and some of the motion stuff that you see so much of the [Kyle] Shanahan tree doing.

“I think from a real fundamental level, it’s all about the quarterback’s timing. There’s been good detail on all the route concepts of when you need to be open and how important the depth is.

“As a quarterback, you used to say, you should be able to throw balls blind knowing guys are going to be in certain spots.

“So, can we get those guys on the same page and knowing the timing and the spacing of the passing game.”

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