The Pittsburgh Steelers have a new head coach for the first time in 19 seasons with league veteran Mike McCarthy, who has been tasked with ending the franchise’s decade-long drought of playoff wins.
Luckily for McCarthy, who won a Super Bowl as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers (against the Steelers), there is a chance he’ll get his starting quarterback from that Super Bowl for his first year with Pittsburgh, as four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers contemplates returning to Pittsburgh or retiring.
Unfortunately for Rodgers, if he comes back to the Steelers, he’ll be without one of his favorite teammates from the 2025 season, as running back Kenneth Gainwell signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The #Bucs are signing former #Steelers RB Kenneth Gainwell to a 2-year, $14M deal.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 9, 2026
Rodgers was extremely high on his praise of Gainwell in their lone season as teammates.
“Just fun to watch. I can’t tell you exactly what I call him every week because there’s some expletives in there, but I love playing with him. I really do. He’s as smart as they come. He’s super smart, and I still cannot believe what we got him for,” Rodgers said during the season per Yahoo Sports.
“I told him a long time ago that my goal was to get him paid because I’ve been a fan of his since he was in Philly and I thought every time he went in the game something good happens. So just to be able to play with him, the type of guy he is, man, I can’t say enough good things about Kenny. Every single game it seems like he comes up with impactful plays and makes guys miss, catches the ball.
“I was telling – who was I telling? I think Marquez [Marquez Valdes Scantling] on the sideline. One of the most impressive things is to watch us on Friday’s practice just do pat-and-go drill, which is just an over-the-shoulder drill. He’s as fluid as anybody on the team catching the football. For a guy that’s making damn near vet minimum, he’s been a tremendous asset to our team this year.”
Fans reacted to Gainwell’s exit on social media.
“There goes Gainwell. Aaron Rodgers told him his goal last season was to get him paid. He certainly did that. Steelers apparently (are not) willing to go beyond the $5.5 million a year they’re paying Jaylen Warren,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Really like the real life fit for the Bucs, does take some targets away from Bucky though,” someone else added.
“Damn. Good for him getting paid. He earned every cent,” another fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see if this impacts Rodgers’ decision.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.