The Pittsburgh Steelers are already plenty motivated heading into the regular season.
They haven't won a playoff game since the 2017 campaign, having dropped five wild-card matchups in a row, and are hungry to break through under Mike McCarthy, their first new head coach since 2007.
While they don't necessarily need more fuel added to the fire, there's also this: Aaron Rodgers has declared that the 2026 campaign will be his last in the NFL.
"We know our goal," linebacker Alex Highsmith said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Chris Harlan. "Not just get to the playoffs but when we get there to make noise. To win and go to the Super Bowl. But there definitely is extra added motivation to send 'eight' out the right way."
Rodgers, a four-time Most Valuable Player and 10-time Pro Bowler who is the active leader in a smorgasbord of passing categories with 66,274 career yards, 527 touchdowns, a 1.4 interception percentage and a 102.2 passer rating, hasn't gone to the Super Bowl since the 2010 campaign -- a game he won against the Steelers.
Donning black and gold for the first time last season, Rodgers led Pittsburgh to the playoffs but went out in a way that would have been anything but fitting for one of the most talented passers in NFL history.
He threw for just 146 yards with a 51.5 completion percentage in a loss to the Houston Texans, and tossed a pick-six in what could have been his last pass attempt as a professional.
Rodgers instead returned to the Steelers, reunited with his old head coach Mike McCarthy and buoyed by an influx of talent to work with. Pittsburgh traded for Michael Pittman and added two more pass catchers through the draft, Germie Bernard and Kaden Wetjen. In an effort to improve upon a defense that allowed the seventh-most yards in 2025, the Steelers also brought in defensive backs Rayshawn Jenkins, Jaquan Brisker and Jamel Dean.
Dean should feel right at home trying to win a ring with the added benefit of potentially sending an all-time great out on top.
He was in his second year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when Tom Brady came to town and helped elevate them to Super Bowl champions.
"It's definitely a similar feeling," Dean said. "Aaron's always been one of the top quarterbacks that I praise. ... There's a lot of confidence in him knowing that he's still got it."
Tampa Bay's Super Bowl LV victory didn't wind up being the end for Brady. He played for two more years, falling short each time.
By every indication, this season will be Rodgers' last ride -- however it ends.
Dean, who said he believes Pittsburgh has all the right pieces, is envisioning the same conclusion as Highsmith and others.
"It would be nice to send him out on a good note knowing that he had a legendary career," the cornerback said.
