Entering his 22nd NFL season -- or as Aaron Rodgers says, "his last rodeo" -- the 42-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is on the cusp of joining several exclusive clubs as he moves up the ranks in the league record books.
In 2025, he passed former teammate Brett Favre to take sole possession of fourth place in career touchdown passes thrown with his 509th TD pass in the Week 3 win against the New England Patriots.
"Every now and then I made some special throws that led to touchdowns, but I've been playing a long time, and it's a longevity thing," Rodgers said before passing Favre's mark last season. "I'm proud of it, but not a big deal."
Rodgers also went on to supplant Ben Roethlisberger for fifth in all-time passing yards in the second quarter of the Thursday night loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 16, 2025.
That Rodgers is still chasing records in 2026 is somewhat of a surprise after he suggested at times during the 2025 season that he was nearing the end of his career.
"It's the twilight of my career," he said after beating the Minnesota Vikings in Ireland on Oct. 5, 2025. "I used to say five, six, seven years ago, I was on the back nine. But I'm teeing off on 18 right now."
In that win, Rodgers made two more noteworthy entries into the record books: most completions of 50-plus yards and second quarterback in NFL history to throw 60 or more touchdown passes against multiple franchises.
But now, Rodgers is closing in on his final opportunities to add to that ever-growing list of historic accomplishments.
Maybe it took him a couple of shots to reach the green, or maybe he took his time finding his shot on the fairway. Either way, the 18th hole is in sight, and Rodgers is crouched in front of his ball, squaring up the putt.
"I thought last year might be it," Rodgers said on the first day of training camp. "And then Mike [McCarthy] got hired. And I talked to the wife, and she said you can do one more year. I said, 'We'll see if it works out.' And it kind of all came together."
Among the milestones in reach for Rodgers are becoming the fourth quarterback in NFL history to appear in 300 games (as of Week 1 he has appeared in 288), joining Tom Brady (383), Favre (326) and Drew Brees (305), throwing the third-most touchdown passes in NFL history (as of Week 1, he has 232) and having the second-most regular-season games with multiple touchdown passes (he only threw for 1 in Week 1). And after Week 1, he needs 3,505 yards to become the fifth player to reach 70,000 passing yards.
This season, we're chronicling Rodgers' individual milestones week by week as he rides his last rodeo and lines up his putt on the 18th green. Follow along here for the weekly installments.
Preseason: 0-for-0, 0 yards, 0 INTs, 0 sacks, 0 rushes
Despite early hints that Rodgers would take the field during the Steelers' first preseason under McCarthy, the veteran quarterback instead spent two games on the sideline and one on his couch at home. With Rodgers' top two receivers in DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. sidelined with preseason injuries, McCarthy opted to also keep his quarterback under wraps.
Rodgers isn't a stranger to sitting out the preseason in recent years. He didn't play in any preseason games for the Steelers in 2025, nor for the New York Jets in 2024 following his season-ending left Achilles tear in Week 1 of the 2023 season.
Week 1: Steelers 20, Falcons 13
Rodgers' stat line: 221 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 2 sacks, 3 rushes for -1 yard
Rodgers didn't break any records this week, but he pulled within one touchdown pass of Peyton Manning for fourth most in NFL history with his second-quarter throw to tight end Pat Freiermuth for 6 yards. The touchdown toss was Rodgers' 232nd of the regular season. Rodgers had 26 pass attempts in the first half, his most attempts in the first half of a game since 2020 at Minnesota as a member of the Green Bay Packers, per ESPN Research.
After Sunday's game, coach Mike McCarthy said he wanted to find more balance in his offense, which ran the ball just 21 times to Rodgers' 40 pass attempts. Rodgers, though, didn't mind all the throwing.
"No, keep doing it," Rodgers said, urging his coach to keep calling passes. "Keep doing it."
And although Rodgers and the Steelers got the win, the quarterback struggled under the pressure from the Falcons' front. He completed 3 of 12 attempts under pressure and was sacked twice. And continuing the trend from last season, Rodgers was also 3-of-12 on throws of 15 or more air yards. Some of those incompletions, though, were the result of drops by his receivers.
"I liked the plan from Mike," Rodgers said. "I liked the playcalling. We took some shots. I felt like we had really close to having one of those really good games. If we come down with a couple of those, it obviously looks a little different on the scoreboard and stat sheet and stuff, but love my guys, love DK [Metcalf].