Aaron Rodgers’ place in the NFL’s quarterback hierarchy is a blunt reminder for Steelers fans that the old version of him is gone.
The four-time MVP who once carved up Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV in February 2011 is now 42 years old, and expecting him to still live in the league’s top tier in 2026 was never realistic. That reality showed up in The Athletic’s latest quarterback rankings, where NFL coaches and executives slotted Rodgers 19th overall and placed him in “Tier 3.”
On Tuesday, The Athletic’s Mike Sando released the tier voting from 50 NFL coaches and execs, with each voter assigning a label to the starting quarterbacks. Rodgers picked up just one Tier 1 vote. He received 19 votes for Tier 2, 26 for Tier 3, and four for Tier 4.
For Pittsburgh, the message is hard to miss: the league sees Rodgers as a Tier 3 quarterback heading into the season, and that naturally raises questions about how high this team can go with him leading the offense.
Rodgers is grouped in Tier 3 with Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young, and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray. Also in that tier are Jaxson Dart, Cam Ward, Tyler Shough, Tua Tagovailoa, and Kirk Cousins.
That’s not a list that screams elite.
The Athletic pointed out that Rodgers’ career has trended downward since 2023, when he moved from being a longtime Tier 1 quarterback to Tier 3. One unnamed defensive coach told The Athletic, “The offensive scheme was limiting last year,” and added, “His mobility is not great, but as a dropback passer and one of those guys you do not want to face in two-minute, if he has pieces around him, he can still go win.”
Last season backed up that concern on film. Rodgers looked hesitant in the pocket and got the ball out quicker than any starting quarterback in the league. He also finished near the bottom in several advanced measures, including air yards per pass attempt, air yards per completion, and drop-back success rate.
Still, there is one angle that could help Rodgers fight off the worst of that label: Mike McCarthy.
Rodgers enjoyed a future first-ballot Hall of Fame run under McCarthy, and even though it has been more than four years since they worked together, McCarthy could still help maximize what remains of an aging quarterback’s game, assuming there’s enough left in the tank.
Rodgers is no longer a Tier 1 quarterback. That part seems settled. But if he can climb back to Tier 2 in what he has already described as his final NFL season, the Steelers may still have a path to making some noise in 2026.
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For the Steelers, it is a familiar kind of awkwardness, the sort that comes with having a quarterback whose comments can quickly become a separate storyline from the football itself. The team has been in this position before with backup Mason Rudolph, and while this latest flare-up is not about anything on the field, it again puts Pittsburgh in the position of answering for a players public remarks instead of focusing on the roster. [Read more 🡒]