Steelers Veteran QB Poised to Reach Career Milestone in 26-27
The Steelers and their fans have waited patiently this offseason to find out if veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers would return for the 2026 season. On Saturday, several media outlets reported that the four-time NFL MVP reached an agreement with the team. On Monday, the Steelers officially announced the re-signing of Rodgers on their website. Rodgers inked a one-year contract with the team. The deal is worth up to $25 million. ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted, “The deal is expected to include a base salary between $22 and $23 million, with up to a few million more in incentives.”
This year is the 42-year-old’s 22nd NFL season. Rodgers is poised to reach a career milestone in 2026. He’s likely to break one of Peyton Manning’s career records. He only needs 13 touchdown passes to surpass Manning on the NFL all-time touchdown passing list. Rodgers has thrown 527 touchdown passes throughout his 21 seasons in the NFL. Manning has the third-most career touchdown passes, 539. Rodgers started in all 16 regular season games he appeared in last year. He only missed one game due to fractures in his non-throwing wrist. Steelers Now’s Chris Ward reported, “Rodgers finished 15th in the NFL in passing yards, 3,322 last season, along with posting an impressive 24-to-seven touchdown-to-interception ratio.” Last season, he surpassed his Green Bay Packers teammate, Brett Favre, for the fourth-most career touchdown passes.
The 42-year-old has many other notable accomplishments. Rodgers ranks fifth among the NFL's all-time passing yards leaders; he has 66,274. He also ranks fifth in career pass completions; he’s completed 5,696 passes. The four-time NFL MVP has been selected for the Pro Bowl 10 times. Teresa Varley reported via the official Steelers website, “Rodgers is the only quarterback in NFL history with at least 55,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards, as well as the only quarterback with 500-plus passes of 25-plus yards and 100-plus runs of 10-plus yards since 1994.” Rodgers is also a Super Bowl Champion. He led the Green Bay Packers to a 31-25 victory over the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. He was named the MVP of the game. The future Hall of Famer is already regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of his generation. Surpassing Manning in career touchdown passes would be a nice addition to his NFL accomplishments.
