Mike McCarthy on if he wants Aaron Rodgers back with Steelers in 2026: 'I don't see why you wouldn't'

Mike McCarthy was introduced on Tuesday as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. It didn’t take long for an Aaron Rodgers question to arrive from the Pittsburgh media.

Second question out of the gate from Tim Benz of TribLIVE, “In your best-case scenario, do you want Aaron Rodgers back as your quarterback next year.” McCarthy started his answer with “definitely… I don’t see why you wouldn’t.”

“I think just like anything and knowing Aaron long enough… I think when players are up at that stage in their career, they need to step away and decompress. I think that’s very important,” McCarthy continued. “The game is so emotional. What these men commit to and put into it, I think that time away is important. I have spoken to Aaron, so that’s really where we are there. … I watched most of the Pittsburgh games on TV [last season], and I thought he was a great asset to the team.”

Rodgers played under McCarthy for 13 of his first 14 seasons in the NFL. Together, the two led the Green Bay Packers to nine playoff appearances, six NFC North titles and a Super Bowl XLV victory over the Steelers. Rodgers won two of his four MVPs under McCarthy (2011, 2014).

Could an Aaron Rodgers-Mike McCarthy partnership be in the cards for 2026?

McCarthy was fired near the end of the 2018 season. This year will be eight since Rodgers and McCarthy last worked together. McCarthy is now 62, while Rodgers is exactly 20 years younger. Rodgers finished his 21st season throwing for 3,322 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions, to go along with a 94.8 passer rating. He is fifth all-time with 66,274 passing yards and fourth with 527 touchdowns. He has yet to make a decision on his future, though it would appear likely it comes before free agency begins in March.

Steelers owner Art Rooney II recognized McCarthy’s ability to develop quarterbacks, just as he did with Rodgers. At some point, Pittsburgh will need a long-term answer at the quarterback position. As for 2026, Rooney has left the door for a Rodgers return “if that makes sense.”

“We decided to bring Mike on because we believe that he’s the right coach for us at this point to help lead us to a championship,” Rooney told Bob Labriola of Steelers.com. “We don’t know what Aaron’s plans are right now, and that did not weigh heavily in the decision.

“We’ll see where Aaron is, and we’ve left the door open, but obviously we all have to sit down and see if that makes sense. So that’ll happen sometime in the next month or so. But the decision was made based on Mike being the coach we want, and it really had very little to do with whether Aaron is going to be back or not.”