After months of waiting to hear his answer, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers signed a one-year contract worth up to $19.5 million with $10 million guaranteed and a $13.65 million base salary, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Now, Pittsburgh has one of the best quarterbacks of this generation to run their offense as they look to make it past the Wild Card round of the postseason for the first time since 2017, when they fell in the divisional round to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Rodgers joins the Steelers with an incredible resume that includes a Super Bowl ring (won against Pittsburgh), a Super Bowl MVP award, four NFL MVP Awards, 10 Pro Bowls and five All-Pro selections in his 20 seasons in the league.
In his 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers donned the No. 12 jersey, which isn’t retired in Pittsburgh but hasn’t been worn by another Steeler since NFL Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw retired in 1983 with four Super Bowl rings.
So what number will Rodgers where with his new team?
According to Rapoport, Rodgers has decided to take No. 8, which he wore the last two seasons with the New York Jets.
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Rodgers probably could’ve asked for Bradshaw’s legendary number, but it’s unlikely that the team would’ve given it to him, and it’s even less likely that Bradshaw would’ve been willing to offer it up.
Eight players have worn No. 8 for the Steelers in their storied history, including Ev Fisher (1940), Elmer Kolberg (1941), Tommy Maddox (2001-05), Josh Scobee (2015), Karl Joseph (2021), Melvin Ingram (2021), Kenny Pickett (2022-23) and Corliss Watiman (2024).
This signing takes the Steelers from fighting to stay out of the bottom half of the AFC North to competing for a division title. Two years removed from the Achilles injury, Rodgers could have a much better year than he did in 2024 when he led the Jets to a 5-12 record.
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