The report says the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers have agreed to a one-year deal that will return the veteran as the team’s starting passer, a move characterized as one of the most anticipated transactions of the 2026 offseason. The report says the contract pays Rodgers a base salary between $22 million and $23 million with incentives that could push the total toward $25 million, a sizable increase from his prior one-year pact worth $13.65 million. The team also hired Mike McCarthy as the replacement for the outgoing Mike Tomlin, per the report.
Per the report, Pittsburgh’s offense in 2025 was middling across several measures. The team ranked 17th in yards per play and 16th in points per drive, and by advanced metrics it was 21st in success rate and 16th in EPA per play. The report says those numbers matched a visual impression of a club that finished around .500 and tended to win when the defense created turnovers or the pass rush dominated.
The passing game was the weaker half of the offense, the report says, with the unit relying more on protection up front and the backfield on designed runs than on consistent downfield throws. Next Gen Stats showed the Steelers with one of the highest pass rates above expectation, ranking sixth among offenses, even as the team’s first down and touchdown rate on dropbacks ranked ahead of only a few teams. The report says the team repeatedly dropped back to throw because of Rodgers’ influence at the line of scrimmage.
The report details how Rodgers’ play-calling acumen shaped the offense: a broad set of hand signals to change route combinations, the tendency to tag routes on the backside of run plays and a quick decision-making style that got the ball out fast. Still, the report identifies limiting factors in the passing game: occasional left-tackle protection issues, limited receiver depth behind DK Metcalf, the midseason emergence of Kenneth Gainwell as a pass catcher and late additions of Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen.
At the core, the report says, was quarterback play. At 41 years old Rodgers’ reduced mobility and reluctance to take hits shortened how long the offense could sustain long dropbacks; he had the quickest average time to throw at 2.71 seconds and led the league in the share of throws that did not travel beyond the line of scrimmage at 32.5 percent. The report says McCarthy faces the task of adjusting the scheme to Rodgers’ style in 2026 and that questions remain about how successful the team can be if it repeats the approach.
