If we are to believe the word of Aaron Rodgers, the 2026-27 NFL season will be his final one.
“This is it,” the four-time MVP said in May.
Rodgers will be going out with a familiar face on the sideline. The Steelers hired former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy in January, and that hire was apparently a big reason in Rodgers’ decision to come back for one last season.
“When the decision was made to hire Mike, I started opening my mind back up to coming back,” Rodgers said.
The 42-year-old Rodgers had a decent season in 2025-26, his first campaign in Pittsburgh. He threw for 3,322 yards and 24 TDs while limiting turnovers. Rodgers threw just seven interceptions last season, and he led Pittsburgh to an AFC North crown. He’s still one of the 20 best quarterbacks in the NFL.
That said, his advanced numbers, like yards per attempt, were noticeably down from his glory years in Green Bay. He also struggled in Pittsburgh’s lone 2025-26 playoff game, completing just 17-of-33 passes for 146 yards in a 30-6 loss to the Texans. Rodgers did not throw a TD against Houston, and he was picked off once, as he finished with a passer rating of 50.8 in the game.
Pittsburgh is hoping that Rodgers will be more comfortable leading the offense in his second year with the organization, and with McCarthy now calling the shots.
For what it’s worth (most every NFL team says things are peachy keen in July and August), McCarthy has said that Rodgers has looked tremendous since the start of training camp.
“His mind’s incredibly sharp,” McCarthy told FOX Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano . “But I’ll be honest with you, his ball play in this camp has been top-notch. Obviously, I’ve coached a lot of football with him, but his ability to place the football … I’m not saying he lost any velocity on the ball, but if he has, it’s definitely made up for with his anticipation.
“So he’s getting the ball where it needs to be, on time. He’s having a hell of a camp.”
Perhaps this “great” camp translates into a throwback type of season for Rodgers in 2026. Or, perhaps its fools’ gold for a player that has been in decline for a few seasons now.
As the old cliche goes, “Father Time is undefeated.”
Most legendary QBs go out with a whimper. But Rodgers can possibly reverse the trend.
Below, we’ll look at the final seasons of other Hall-of-Fame caliber quarterbacks and see if there are any lessons that Rodgers can take with him for the final few months of his football life. This is How Aaron Rodgers Can Still Be Elite.
Peyton Manning
Manning found most of his NFL success while a member of the Indianapolis Colts, but his tenure with the Denver Broncos—which lasted from the 2012 season to the 2015 season—was highly memorable as well.
“The Sheriff” won the last of his five MVP awards while with the Broncos in 2013, putting up ridiculous numbers.
By the 2015 season, though, Manning’s arm was pretty much shot. There were more wobbly passes, and his yards per attempt dipped to 6.8 that season (his YPA was 8.3 in 2013).
Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak started Brock Osweiler for a few games down the stretch of the 2015 regular season. Manning was dealing with plantar fasciitis but his poor play was also likely a reason as to why Kubiak went with Osweiler.
But Brock Osweiler was Brock Osweiler and Manning eventually got his job back in time for the playoffs. There, Manning was a shell of his former self. He averaged just 179.6 passing yards per game in three games in the 2015 postseason and threw just 2 TD passes in the postseason.
What Manning did do well during this stretch was protect the football as he threw just 1 INT en route to the Broncos winning that season’s Super Bowl over Carolina.
What Rodgers could learn from Manning: Let the team’s younger, elite players do the heavy lifting. You’re not in your 20s (or even 30s) anymore. Be self aware. Don’t try and do too much, and winning will follow. The Steelers have one of the best pass rushing units in the league and a potentially very good collection of skill position players.
Tom Brady
Much like Rodgers the past few years, Brady flirted with retirement almost every offseason as his career wound down. TB12 actually went so far as to announce his retirement on Feb. 1, 2022, only to backtrack and announce a few weeks later that he had changed his mind and was set on playing the 2022-23 season.
Unfortunately for Brady, his swan song year did not work out too well.
Brady’s security blanket, Rob Gronkowski, retired again. Pro Bowl offensive lineman Ali Marpet retired. Center Ryan Jensen suffered a major knee injury in training camp that kept him out for the brunt of the season. Guard Aaron Stinnie suffered a torn ACL and MCL in the preseason. Head coach Bruce Arians retired, with Todd Bowles taking the reins.
During the season, the Bucs lost three games in a row. It was the first time it had happened to a team quarterbacked by Brady in 20 years.
The Bucs finished 8-9, marking the first time Brady finished a season with a losing record. Tampa Bay somehow made the playoffs with that losing mark, but fell to the Cowboys in the Wild Card round, 31-14.
What Rodgers could learn from Brady: Make sure your offensive line is healthy. The Steelers have one of the most polarizing units in the NFL. ESPN ranked the Steelers’ offensive line as the 30th best in the league, while Pro Football Network has them at three! Also, know when to walk away and don’t be tempted to come back, especially if you have less-than-ideal circumstances.
Troy Aikman
Aikman suffered 10 documented concussions in his NFL career, with four taking place in his last 20 starts.
Needless to say, Aikman was not the same elite QB in the final few years of his career. In the 1999 season, Aikman threw 17 TDs and 12 interceptions in 14 games played. In his final season of 2000, Aikman threw just 7 TDs and recorded 14 INTs in just 11 games.
Rodgers, meanwhile, has suffered three documented concussions in his career, and the last one occurred back in December of 2018.
While Rodgers has been relatively lucky when it comes to head injuries of late, he did deal with a major injury just three years ago when he famously went down with a torn Achilles in the first game of his Jets career.
Unlike Aikman, Rodgers has been able to limit INTs late in his career. Rodgers threw just 7 picks in 16 games last season with the Steelers and he threw 11 in 17 games in 2024. In his final season in Green Bay in 2022, he threw 12 in 17 games.
What Rodgers can learn from Aikman: Avoid major injuries and big hits, obviously. But also, at this stage of your career you’re more of a game-manager than anything. Limit those INTs. Don’t be a gunslinger, which leads us to. . .
Brett Favre
What Rodgers comparison list would be complete without Favre, his former teammate in Green Bay?
Like Rodgers, Favre played with the Jets immediately after his Packers tenure. Like Rodgers, his tenure in the Meadowlands did not exactly go well.
Like Rodgers, Favre found a more stable situation in his second post-Green Bay landing spot. Number 4 found success with the Vikings in 2009 and 2010, particularly in 2009 when he threw for 33 TDs and just 7 INTs, and led the Vikings to the NFC title game.
Favre’s final season (2010) did not go as well as the first as he threw for just 11 TDs in 13 games. He was picked off 19 times.
Favre was still banged up from the previous year’s NFC title game in 2010 and the Vikings’ season got off to a rocky start. He and the Minnesota offense put up just 9 points in a 14-9 loss to the Saints in Week 1, and then put up just 10 points in a 14-10 loss to the Dolphins in Week 2.
After a 3-7 start to the season, the Vikings fired head coach Brad Childress.
What Rodgers can learn from Favre: Don’t rest on last year’s laurels. Rodgers had a relatively drama-free and productive season with the Steelers last year. But 2026 is a new season, with new challenges.
It would also behoove Rodgers and the Steelers to get off to a quick start this season, or else potentially suffer the fate of Favre and the 2010 Vikings. Here is the Steelers first month of the 2026 season: home vs. Falcons, at Patriots, home vs. Bengals, at Browns. They should end the first quarter of the season at no worse than 2-2 if they expect to repeat as AFC North champs.
Joe Montana
Montana was obviously a franchise icon with the 49ers, much like Rodgers is an all-time Packer.
The 49ers ultimately chose to go with the younger Steve Young when they traded Montana to the Chiefs in 1993, much like the Packers went with Jordan Love over Rodgers a few years back.
Montana spent two seasons with the Chiefs before retiring, much like Rodgers will play two seasons with the Steelers before he hangs ’em up.
In his final NFL season, “Joe Cool” went toe-to-toe with younger greats like Young and John Elway.
On September 11, 1994, Montana and Young faced off for the first and only time in their careers. Montana led the Chiefs to a 24-17 win over his former team, throwing for 203 yards, 2 TDs and zero INTs. Young threw for 288 yards and two TDs but he threw two interceptions.
On October 17, 1994 against Elway’s Broncos on Monday Night Football, Montana led a 75-yard game-winning drive that culminated with a 5-yard TD pass to Willie Davis with 8 seconds left. Montana’s Chiefs would hold on for a thrilling 31-28 victory.
What Rodgers can learn from Montana: Turn back the clock. When the lights were brightest in his final season, Montana rose to the occasion, beating Young in what was then dubbed “The Game of the Century,” and then beating Elway on Monday Night Football.
Rodgers showed flashes of his former MVP self at times last season, most notably in Week 1 against his former team, the Jets. Number 8 completed 22-of-30 passes for 244 yards, 4 TDs and 0 picks in a 34-32 win over New York last season.
Rodgers will want to go out with a bang, much like Montana did in his final NFL season.
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