Two decades ago, Brett Favre shrugged off grooming his successor by saying, “My contract doesn’t say I have to get Aaron Rodgers ready to play.” Aaron Rodgers had been picked 24th overall in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, and Favre had no plans of giving up the keys to the roster or showing Rodgers the ropes.

But now, Rodgers is the veteran quarterback in a room featuring a rookie and a second-year quarterback who’s never played an NFL snap. When asked if he’d mentor the young quarterbacks for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2026, he used his old mentor’s words to explain why that’s the plan.

“To coin a phrase after a guy that I’ve followed, it’s not in my job description,” Rodgers said, “but I think it’s a great opportunity, for sure, to be able to mentor those guys.”

It was a clever callback to Favre’s reign in Green Bay, but Rodgers’ comment was more about how he wants this year judged. He first pointed back to all the quarterbacks he’s helped in the past, and then brought the conversation back to Will Howard and Drew Allar.

“It means a lot to me, all the backups I’ve had over the years, and I have a good relationship still to this day with those guys,” Rodgers added, “the fun I had with Will last year. I’ll try and mentor Drew as much as he wants me to, and keep staying on Will.”

The Howard relationship didn’t start this week, though. From the moment Pittsburgh brought Rodgers in last season, he sat next to the rookie in all the meetings, talking through reads and protections. Even on The Pat McAfee Show, he shared his assessment of the young QB.

“Will, in general, I think, has what it takes from a personality and a moxie standpoint to have a long career in the league,” Rodgers said. “You never know what’s going to happen till the live bullets start flying. But I went to him early in camp, and I said, ‘Listen, I’ll help you as much or as little as you want.’”

Howard came to the NFL as a National champion with Ohio State. He won the offensive MVP award for his contributions in the 2025 season. However, having someone like Rodgers certainly helped him learn a lot about how the transition into the NFL was going to be different. Howard praised the four-time MVP for his guidance last season.

“Aaron has been so willing to help me. He’s like, ‘Literally, as much or as little as you want me to help you, I’ll be there,'” said Howard in an interview with CBS Sports. “He’s already given me tips, little things here and there in the meeting room, on the field, in my drops, different little things. Obviously, I can’t do the things that he can do mechanically, so I don’t want to replicate that too much because that’s pretty unique. But for the most part, everything I can learn from that guy is invaluable.”

Allar, meanwhile, arrives as the 3rd round pick with his throwing motion and footwork already being rebuilt under new head coach Mike McCarthy’s staff. The Steelers drafted him while Rodgers’ future was still unsettled, and now the veteran is tying his own final season to how quickly Allar and Howard can grow.

Favre once pushed back on the idea of Rodgers mentoring Jordan Love, who replaced Rodgers in Green Bay. Favre did say that he answered questions when Rodgers asked them, but never went out of his way to do so. Rodgers is now quoting that line on purpose and flipping the conclusion.

As he mentors Howard and Allar, Rodgers will make sure whatever he leaves behind in that room is supposed to outlast him. Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers has now said out loud that 2026 will be his last season, and also shared why he decided to come back.

One last year, on his terms

“Yes. This is it,” With just those four words, Rodgers finally put all the questions to rest that have followed him since his exit from the New York Jets after the 2024 season. And this almost wouldn’t have happened if not for one coach.

When former head coach Mike Tomlin decided to step down after his 19th season with the Steelers ended in a Wild Card exit, Rodgers admitted his football career might have been over. But Mike McCarthy was the reason he came back.

“When he said he (Tomlin) was stepping away, that was an emotional moment just because we all love him so much and care about him, and I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh,” Rodgers said. “But when the decision was made to hire Mike, I started opening my mind back up to coming back.”

McCarthy was the head coach who gave Rodgers his start in Green Bay and helped develop him into an MVP-caliber quarterback. So after Tomlin resigned, Rodgers actually suggested McCarthy as head coach to Steelers general manager Omar Khan.

McCarthy has called sharing a meeting room with Rodgers again “surreal.” And the way he talks about his old quarterback, he still sees the arm talent.

“He can throw it with anybody, but he made sure we all saw that in first practice Monday,” McCarthy said. “He still throws the ball extremely well. He’s moving, but this is the first practice, too. So he’s knocking the cobwebs off.”

Favre’s statement used to be shorthand for veteran quarterbacks for protecting their position. Aaron Rodgers is turning the same phrase into a kind of farewell assignment. If this really is it, the thing that will stick in Pittsburgh isn’t just that he gave them a late-career run; it’s that he decided the last item on his to-do list was making sure they didn’t need him anymore.