It’s the dawn of a new era for Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as longtime head coach Mike Tomlin stepped down from his position this week. The franchise will begin searching for its fourth head coach since 1969.
Will Rodgers, however, be part of the team’s future?
Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers Might Be Out Behind Mike Tomlin
Rodgers’s arrival at the Three Rivers was supposed to be a glorious last hurrah for the former Super Bowl winner and MVP. Tomlin is famous for assembling teams that make it to the playoffs, which is precisely what Rodgers needed after a miserable few years with the New York Jets.
Tomlin also did an admirable job of providing Rodgers with solid weapons in DK Metcalf, Kenneth Gainwell, and Jaylen Warren. The offense was set, and all Rodgers had to do was slide into the driver’s seat as the first big-name quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger.
The fantasy, however, didn’t turn out to be everything fans had hoped for. The team arguably only made it to the playoffs due to poor campaigns by the rest of the teams in the AFC North, and its early exit on Wild Card Weekend supports that idea.
Steelers president Art Rooney II commented on Rodgers’s future following the season they’ve had, alluding to the idea that the veteran shot-caller might be done in Pittsburgh.
“‘Aaron came here to play for Mike. So it would most likely affect his decision,'” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport quoted Rooney on X. “Sounds like #Steelers President Art Rooney believes Aaron Rodgers has played his last down in Pittsburgh,” Rapoport speculated.
“Aaron came here to play for Mike. So it would most likely affect his decision.”
Sounds like #Steelers President Art Rooney believes Aaron Rodgers has played his last down in Pittsburgh.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 14, 2026
Rodgers spoke very highly of Tomlin before he played his first down for the Steelers, and he maintained that sentiment throughout. Even after their Wild Card collapse, the veteran still gave Tomlin his flowers for how the coach conducts himself and runs his teams.
“Mike T has had more success than anybody in the league for the last 19-20 years,” he said after the loss. “When you have the right guy, and the culture is right, you don’t think about making a change.
“But there’s a lot of pressure that comes from the outside, and, obviously, that sways decisions from time to time. But that’s not how I would do things, and that’s not how the league used to be.”
In the press conference, he emphasized how strange it is for him to see coaches like Tomlin and the Green Bay Packers‘ Matt LaFleur on the hot seat. Nonetheless, how all the coaching moves and roster changes shape up this offseason remains to be seen.
