Aaron Rodgers came to Pittsburgh in large part to play for Mike Tomlin. Now, Tomlin is gone.
Mike DeFabo of TheAthletic.com has shared plenty of details regarding Tomlin’s final meeting with the team, on Tuesday. One stands out among the rest.
As explained by DeFabo, Tomlin ended the meeting by going to the door and interacting with each player as they left. When quarterback Aaron Rodgers made it to Tomlin, other players said Rodgers was sobbing. He said, repeatedly: “I’m sorry.”
Rodgers understood that his arrival in Pittsburgh was part of an all-in move aimed at getting the Steelers their first playoff win in nine years. For Rodgers himself, a division title obscured two bad years with the Jets. For Tomlin, a playoff loss to the Texans in a game that was somehow there to be had became the abrupt conclusion of a 19-year tenure.
The reporting from DeFabo makes it even more clear that Rodgers won’t be back with the Steelers in 2026. Even if Rodgers was willing to embrace the next coach, the next coach will want a quarterback who won’t potentially bemoan, privately or publicly, that Mike Tomlin handled things a lot differently than the new guy does.
Then again, if the Steelers really want another year with Rodgers, one way to make it happen could be to trade for Packers coach Matt LaFleur. Especially after Rodgers’s recent praise that left LaFleur “speechless.”
