Aaron Rodgers is preparing for his final season in the NFL by taking some of his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates on a bonding trip.
The legendary quarterback, 42, announced the upcoming season will be his last back in May after signing a $25million contract to play on for one more season.
Ahead of the start of training camp later this month, Rodgers and a group of Steelers stars seemingly traveled to a remote location to bond.
The group included receivers DK Metcalf, Michael Pittman Jr., Ben Skowronek, and Roman Wilson, as well as tight end Pat Freiermuth and backup quarterback Mason Rudolph.
One picture from the trip shows some of the group dressed in cowboy attire with Rodgers holding a cigarette.
In other snaps, they could be seen riding horses, sitting around a campfire and paddle boarding as they enjoyed a fun-filled few days.
Aaron Rodgers was seen smoking a cigarette during a Pittsburgh Steelers team bonding trip
Rodgers and the group were pictured riding horses during the trip to a remote location
Rodgers and fellow quarterback Mason Rudolph enjoyed some stand up paddle board
The group were also snapped around a campfire as they bonded before training camp
(L to R): Michael Pittman Jr., Ben Skowronek, Roman Wilson, Rodgers, Mason Rudolph, DK Metcalf and Pat Freiermuth
The Super Bowl champion captioned the post with ‘Last Rodeo. #bondingweek’ as the team hope to go further than last year’s exit in the first round of the playoffs.
Rodgers and his teammates are due to report to St. Vincent college in Latrobe, Pennsylvania for day one of training camp on July 28. They will be there until August 17.
Back in May, Rodgers said that his wife, who is not publicly known and he has only referred to as ‘Brittani’, convinced him to have one last go at winning another Super Bowl.
The four-time NFL MVP admitted he thought he would call it a day when the 2025 campaign ended with a playoff loss to the Houston Texans and Mike Tomlin stepped down as Pittsburgh’s head coach.
‘When he said he was stepping away, that was an emotional moment just because we all love him so much and care about him, and I thought that was probably it for me in Pittsburgh,’ Rodgers said.
But another reason he was convinced to continue was the arrival of Mike McCarthy as Tomlin’s successor – the head coach Rodgers won his only Super Bowl with while at the Green Bay Packers.
‘There’s definitely a full circle moment,’ Rodgers said of finishing his career under McCarthy. ‘When the decision was made to hire Mike, I started opening my mind back up to coming back.
‘Honestly, sitting in the first 8 o’clock meeting on Monday took me back to being a 22-year-old kid sitting in Green Bay.’
Rodgers, who turns 43 in December, said that as well as discussing his future with Brittani, talks with McCarthy and Steelers general manager Omar Khan helped him decide to keep going.
Rodgers’ $25m contract for 2026 is almost double what the Steelers paid him last year.
The veteran quarterback has already confirmed that 2026 will be his final season in the NFL
The 42-year-old was at Steelers practice back in May after signing a deal for one more year
The bulk of his career was spent with the Green Bay Packers but he left for the New York Jets in April 2023, vowing to reinvigorate the struggling franchise.
The move turned out to be a disaster, though. He tore his Achilles just four snaps into his debut against the Buffalo Bills and missed the rest of the first season.
When he returned in 2024, the Jets went 5-12 and didn’t get anywhere near a playoff spot. When Aaron Glenn took over as head coach, he told Rodgers he was no longer needed – a move that irked the quarterback deeply.
He took great joy on Week 1 last year as he returned to MetLife Stadium to beat narrowly Glenn and the Jets in a 34-32 thriller.
Rodgers’s final season begins at home to Atlanta Falcons in September – the Steelers don’t play the Jets in the regular season but do face them in a preseason game Rodgers will likely miss.
There is no return to Green Bay, either, for Rodgers. They face Super Bowl runners up New England Patriots in Week 2 and also head to Paris to play New Orleans Saints in October.
The Steelers close the season with a brutal six-game stretch against playoff contenders, including the Texans and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as AFC North rivals Baltimore Ravens.
