Its seems inevitable that Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy will once again pair up, this time for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite Rodgers remaining unsigned deep into May, most believe he will end up on the team at some point. The question is, do either of them really want this unification? Or is this being forced upon them by the Steelers. In all honesty, neither has much of a choice in the matter.
There was no other team in the NFL willing to hire the 62 year old Mike McCarthy as their head coach. McCarthy had an interview with the Tennessee Titans, but that did not go far. The Steelers were his last, and only hope for a head coaching job in the NFL. So when the inevitable question of came up of how he would feel about working with Aaron Rodgers again, McCarthy didn’t have any choice but to embrace the idea.
Aaron Rodgers also has little to no options. The Pittsburgh Steelers are also his only hope to be in the NFL in 2026. No other team has made an offer to Rodgers in the last two offseasons. His age, decline in play, and overriding ego scare most teams off. So if Aaron Rodgers wants to play this season, it will have to be as Mike McCarthy as his head coach and play caller.
The way things ended between these two in Green Bay, one has to wonder how good an idea this experiment is. Publicly both have said good things about each other since McCarthy got fired in 2018. But it was widely known that the two did not see eye to eye towards the end of McCarthy’s tenure. Rodgers would often change the calls from the sideline, and completely ignore McCarthy’s calls from the sideline. Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Kahler reported Mccarthy would try to get a specific play called up to three times, with Rodgers changing it each time. The end of the Green Bay era was as dysfunctional a situation as could be imagined. https://www.businessinsider.com/aaron-rodgers-ignored-mike-mccarthy-calls-packers-2019-1
The Steelers are about to combine a coach and quarterback who clearly did not enjoy working together last time around. That’s to say nothing of the fact that both are well passed their primes. Rodgers is a shell of himself. He wants no part of being hit anymore. Rodgers led the league in fewest air yards per attempt in 2025. His favorite play was the dump offs to Kenneth Gainwell. As for Mike McCarthy, this is a coach who is also well passed his prime. His offenses were successful in Dallas, but the talent level was nearly fool proof. Repeating that success with the Steelers will require a higher level of coaching.
How, or why this franchisee thinks this is a good idea is mystifying. Art Rooney is desperate to keep this team playoff relevant. He wants no part of a rebuild. Rooney said as much in his annual state of the franchise press conference. What he doesn’t know is combining Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy at this stage of their careers is destined to fail. Art Rooney is about to get his rebuild year whether he likes it or not.