When the Pittsburgh Steelers first hired Mike McCarthy as their head coach it was widely believed that he had mended the fences with his former star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. But a recent decision has at least one reporter believing that McCarthy is willing and perhaps eager to get rid of Rodgers.
According to ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio, the Steelers' decision to place the rare unrestricted free agency tender on Rodgers for the coming season might have been done to intentionally annoy the four-time MVP. He believes that by intentionally paying Rodgers below-market value, it will force him to confront them.
"So here's the question: Do they want him to perceive that?" Florio asked. "Is this their way to get off the Aaron Rodgers ride?"
Florio then asserted that McCarthy "would prefer to move on" from the quarterback he once dominated the league with.
"I continue to believe, truth be told, new coach Mike McCarthy would prefer to move on without his former Packers quarterback."
McCarthy and Rodgers
It's not exactly a secret that the relationship between McCarthy and Rodgers started great but ended very poorly. The duo reached and won the Super Bowl in 2010 before winning five of the next six NFC North titles.
But by 2017, things were starting to fray. There were rumors that McCarthy and Rodgers were on the outs and the results on the field started to reflect it. That season they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 and the following year the Packers started the year 4-7-1 before McCarthy was fired.
Rodgers himself would adapt pretty well to new head coach Matt LaFleur's system, winning two league MVPs in 2020 and 2021. But he ultimately got tired of Green Bay as well and left after the 2022 season.
Now the two are reunited in Pittsburgh, but it remains to be seen if they've mended their relationship to the point where they'll actually work together in an NFL game.
