Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Aaron Rodgers is not young.
As someone who is a few days older than him, I’m not going to call him old. But he is the oldest projected starting quarterback in the NFL this season. He’s also four years older than the next-oldest current NFL starter, Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams.
Father Time is undefeated, and no player can remain elite forever. A four-time former NFL MVP, Rodgers did not play up to that level in 2025, or anywhere near it, and it would be folly to think that he’s going to find a fountain of youth in 2026.
But man, can he still sling it.
That was one of my biggest takeaways from OTAs, where I spent a lot of time watching young quarterbacks Will Howard and Drew Allar, but couldn’t help but notice just how much better Rodgers remains at throwing the football. The way he ended the final practice of minicamp — with an impossible bomb to Roman Wilson — was the cherry on top.
Despite that, Rodgers was simply an average NFL quarterback in 2025. He was 14th in quarterback rating, 16th in completion percentage and 18th in adjusted net yards per attempt.
Which brings us to the central question of 2026 for the Pittsburgh offense. Rodgers clearly still has the arm talent. He also clearly is not the same quarterback he once was in terms of his pocket presence and mobility. Can Mike McCarthy find a way to stop Father Time and get more out of Rodgers in 2026?
The change to McCarthy’s system is an interesting angle. A quarterback-centric scheme, the idea of his offense has always been to help his passers succeed. There isn’t a lot of hard evidence to compare how quarterbacks have done with McCarthy compared to others, simply because he had Rodgers and Brett Favre for so long. But it’s hard to argue that McCarthy didn’t get more out of Dak Prescott than anyone had before him. His career highs in yards, completions and touchdowns all came under McCarthy.
There’s another part of the equation, as well. Just because Rodgers will turn 43 this season does not mean that he is destined for an age-related collapse. While the age curve is undefeated, it does not usually work in a linear fashion.
There aren’t a ton of real comparisons for a quarterback playing as long as Rodgers has, but the ones that have provide some hope that he can be better in 2026.
Tom Brady played six seasons after turning 40. His passer rating was 102.8 at 40, 97.7 at 41 and 88.0 at 42. That sure looked like the steep end of the curve, right? Wrong.
In 2020, at 43, Brady rebounded with the move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, posting a 102.2 passer rating on the way to a Super Bowl win and then a 102.1 the following year. Warren Moon, another of the rare post-40 NFL starters, had a 68.7 passer rating at 40...
