The Pittsburgh Steelers are in an offseason filled with uncertainty, and for a franchise that values consistency, that isn’t a guarantee next season. After Mike Tomlin stepped down, the Steelers needed to find their next franchise HC, and that was former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy.
McCarthy’s first major decision is at QB, and with his former franchise leader, Aaron Rodgers, playing for the Steelers last season, bringing him back is likely, but could be a mistake.
NFL Insider Warns Against Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy Reunion
It makes sense why McCarthy and the Steelers would want Rodgers to come back. This decision would be the best chance to make the playoffs right away, but Rodgers was still not good last season. According to the PFSN NFL QB Impact Metric, Rodgers was the 29th-best QB in 2025, and he had a really bad playoff performance.
This may be the direction the Steelers end up going in, but NFL Insider Benjamin Solak appeared on the “Up & Adams Show” and said it would be an absolutely horrible decision by Pittsburgh.
“There’s no, no, no reason to do it again. Rodgers, at this point in his career, with his playstyle and athletic limitations, it’s really hard from him to be a successful QB,” Solak said.
He added, “It will not go well… and boring.”
“There’s no, no, no reason to do it again… It would end bad.”
NFL Analyst Ben Solak does NOT want to see an Aaron Rodgers-Mike McCarthy reunion on the Steelers 👀@BenjaminSolak | @heykayadams pic.twitter.com/X85YfRxN4w
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) February 10, 2026
Solak then goes a bit further and talks about the massive mistake the Steelers made this offseason. When Adams asked him about the Steelers’ plan for the future, this is what Solak said:
“It’s very sad, and when Tomlin stepped down, the Steelers had a real opportunity to hit a reset button, be bad for a little bit, get a young coach, and try to modernize, and they went the completely other direction. And that is a terrible shame.”
As mentioned before, the Steelers value consistency, so the idea of resetting and tanking for a QB is one they want to avoid at all costs. Usually, somehow, someway, the NFL universe will force it to happen, but with the hire of McCarthy, Pittsburgh is still trying to stop it.
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Bringing back Rodgers would fit the pattern of choices Pittsburgh is making, so this is the likely outcome.
