Aaron Rodgers says the 2026 NFL season will be his last: ‘This is it’

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers took his time before deciding he wanted to come back for a 22nd season. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback already has made up his mind about a 23rd: There won’t be one.

“This is it,” Rodgers said Wednesday when the four-time NFL MVP was asked if this would be his final year.

The 42-year-old did not expand on why he came to that conclusion when making his first public comments since signing a one-year deal to return to the Steelers on Monday.

Rodgers instead is leaning into the present, including his reunion with first-year Steelers coach Mike McCarthy. The two spent 13 seasons together in Green Bay earlier in their careers, and Rodgers pointed to McCarthy’s hiring as Mike Tomlin’s replacement as a major factor in his decision to run it back one last time.