May 20 (Reuters) – Four-times NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers will retire after the 2026 season, drawing a curtain on a glittering 22-year career, he said on Wednesday.
The 42-year-old quarterback inked a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers this week that reunited him with coach Mike McCarthy. Rodgers played 13 seasons under McCarthy with the Green Bay Packers, winning the Super Bowl after the 2010 season.
“Yes. This is it,” Rodgers, who is fourth on the NFL’s all-time passing touchdowns list with 527, told a press conference.
McCarthy was hired as Steelers coach in January after Mike Tomlin resigned following the team’s loss to the Houston Texans in the postseason.
Rodgers told reporters that McCarthy’s hiring played a role in his decision to come back to Pittsburgh for a second season.
“I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh,” Rodgers said, referring to Tomlin’s resignation. “But when the decision was made to hire Mike (McCarthy), I started opening my mind back up to coming back.”
After establishing himself as one of the league’s best quarterbacks from 2008 to 2022 as a starter for Green Bay, Rodgers was sent to the New York Jets in a blockbuster trade for multiple picks in 2023.
His stint with the Jets began with a season-ending Achilles tendon rupture during the team’s 2023 season opener against the Buffalo Bills.
The next season was not any better. While Rodgers returned to action for the Jets in 2024, the team posted their worst record since 2021, ending 5-12 and missing the playoffs for the 14th consecutive year.
It also marked the most losses for Rodgers in a single season as a starter. He finished the 2024 season with 3,897 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Rodgers was released by the Jets in 2025, going on to sign a one-year deal with the Steelers. He led Pittsburgh to an AFC North title and playoff berth, throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions that year.
Facing the Texans in a postseason wild-card matchup, Rodgers had the worst playoff game of his career in terms of statistics. He completed 17 of 33 passes for just 146 yards, a postseason career low. Pittsburgh’s six points in Houston’s 30-6 rout were also the fewest scored by a Rodgers-led offense in a playoff game.
Rodgers will turn 43 in December. He’s been on the decline, but his legacy on the field speaks for itself — and McCarthy is still betting on him.
“He can throw it with anybody, but he made sure we all saw that in first practice Monday,” McCarthy said at a press conference on Wednesday. “He still throws the ball extremely well. He’s moving, but this is his first practice too. So he’s knocking the cobwebs off.”
(Reporting by Nicole Fernandes in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
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