In a surprising twist, Aaron Rodgers is set to continue his NFL journey with the Pittsburgh Steelers for yet another season.
News broke Saturday evening revealing that the iconic 42-year-old quarterback has inked a fresh one-year contract with the team.
The agreement guarantees Rodgers $22 million, with the potential for his earnings to increase to $25 million through performance-based incentives.
This development follows a period of contemplation for Rodgers, who spent four months considering his options after Pittsburgh’s early playoff exit in January.
Rodgers will now join forces with Mike McCarthy, the Steelers’ new coach. The pair have a storied history, having led the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl victory in 2011. Together, they have secured 107 wins, ranking them ninth among head coach-quarterback partnerships since 1966.
The seasoned player, a four-time NFL MVP, is gearing up for his 22nd season and is slated to participate in the Steelers’ voluntary offseason training sessions starting Monday.
Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers have reached an agreement on a new one-year deal
He will reunite with new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy after they won a Super Bowl in 2011
That is earlier than last year, when Rodgers did not sign with the then-Mike Tomlin Steelers until their mandatory minicamp in June.
Last season, Rodgers led the Steelers to the playoffs but they were blown away in the wild card round by the Houston Texans before legendary coach Tomlin departed after 19 years.
Rodgers’ refusal to confirm his future plans led the Steelers to add to their quarterback ranks in the NFL Draft by picking Penn State’s Drew Allar in the third round.
Back in March, before the start of free agency, Rodgers revealed there was no deadline for him to decide his future and indicated that he was in no rush to do so.
‘Free agency starts in a week,’ Rodgers told friend Pat McAfee about his current situation. ‘I’ve talked to Mike, I’ve talked to [Steelers general manager] Omar [Khan]. There’s been no deadline that’s been put in front of me.
‘There’s no contract offer or anything,’ he continued. ‘So there’s nothing I’m having to debate between. I’m a free agent. Again, I’m enjoying my time with my wife and enjoying this part of the offseason. I think there’s conversations to be had down the line.’
Rodgers’ return to the NFL will undoubtedly bring his marriage to mysterious wife Brittani, who has still not been identified more than 12 months after their wedding, back into the spotlight.
He first revealed in June last year that he had been married for ‘a couple of months’, placing the wedding in around March or April 2025, but he was scant on details.
Join the discussion
Should Aaron Rodgers’ secretive personal life impact how fans view his legacy with the Steelers?
The quarterback stunned fans when he unveiled a wedding band on his finger last summer
Rodgers declined to name who he married, although he said in a December 2024 episode of the Pat McAfee Show that he was dating someone named Brittani, who was a ‘private person,’ at the time.
He has never been seen in public with his wife, who remains one of the NFL’s biggest mysteries, with even his teammates and their partners describing her as a ‘phantom.’
In March, Rodgers fumed over ‘obsessed’ fans who were trying to identify his mystery wife, branding their behavior ‘f***ing bizarre.’
‘The obsession is f***ing bizarre, that’s the only way to put it,’ he said on The Pat McAfee Show. ‘The obsession is really bizarre. You guys know, you laughed about this many times, you showed pictures of it… we’re not living at the beach anymore.
‘Part of it is, I have legitimate stalkers. I don’t say that lightly or flippantly, I’ve been getting stalked at my house for a year and a half, stalked at the coffee shop, at the gym at Pro Active. The paparazzi was flying drones over my house, I’ve learned that it’s had a bounty on getting a picture of my wife, which I think is very bizarre as well.
‘I understand the attention that comes with somebody that’s accomplished what I’ve accomplished, so in no way am I making this a “woe is me”. But when it comes to your personal safety, it’s not just me… it’s me and her, and it’s really f***ing bizarre.’
He continued: ‘When we met back in 2017, I know there was something crazy special about this, and I wanted to be with her,’ he added. ‘She would make funny comments like, “I would never live in Green Bay”, and “I don’t want to be a players’ wife”.
‘She’s just not a public person. Then she moved back across the pond and I got myself into crazy town.’
