Aaron Rodgers has confirmed the 2026 season, his 22nd in the NFL, will be his last as he is set to retire.
“This is it,” Rodgers said when the four-time NFL MVP was asked if this would be his final year.
The 42-year-old did not expand on why he came to that conclusion when making his first public comments since signing a one-year deal to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday.
Rodgers had originally arrived in Pittsburgh in the wake of two disappointing seasons with the New York Jets, the first of which saw him suffer a year-ending Achilles injury four plays into his debut.
His decision to stay with the Steelers means he will have a reunion with first-year Steelers coach Mike McCarthy.
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Aaron Rodgers found Calvin Austin III in the endzone with just one minute left against the Ravens.
The two spent 13 seasons together in Green Bay earlier in their careers, and Rodgers pointed to McCarthy’s hiring as Mike Tomlin’s replacement as a major factor in his decision to run it back one last time.
“It is like a (bunch of) ‘pinch me’ moments that have happened in the last few days,” he said following the second day of Pittsburgh’s voluntary organised team activities.
McCarthy and Rodgers won a Super Bowl together at Green Bay after the 2010 season, and they remained in frequent contact over the winter and into the spring as Rodgers weighed up whether he wanted to put his body through the rigors of a 17-game season.
Rodgers ultimately landed on ‘yes’, hoping for the rarest of exits: one he can dictate on his own terms.
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