The news that Aaron Rodgers is officially back with the Steelers for his 22nd NFL season means he’ll continue to add to one of the most impressive statistical résumés any quarterback has ever assembled.
Of particular note is that Rodgers is likely to move ahead of Peyton Manning for the third-most touchdown passes in NFL history. Rodgers has thrown 527 touchdown passes in his NFL career, while Manning retired with 539, so Rodgers needs just 13 touchdown passes to move ahead of Manning. As long as Rodgers stays healthy, he should eclipse Manning’s career total early in the season.
Rodgers would likely need to play two more seasons to move into second place, which is currently occupied by Drew Brees, with 571 career touchdown passes. And Tom Brady’s all-time record of 649 career touchdown passes appears insurmountable.
Rodgers could also lose, a couple of of the career records he currently holds, however. At the moment, Rodgers is tied for the highest career passer rating in NFL history: Rodgers and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson both have a passer rating of 102.2. But last year Jackson’s passer rating was 103.8 and Rodgers’ was 94.8, so if they both play at the same level in 2026, Jackson will take first place in the record books all to himself.
Rodgers could also fall behind Joe Burrow (101.1) and Patrick Mahomes (100.8), who are currently third and fourth in NFL history in career passer rating. The best career passer rating is a record Rodgers likely won’t hold by the end of the season.
Another career record Rodgers could lose is the all-time lowest interception percentage. Rodgers has thrown 123 interceptions in 8,743 career passes, a career interception rate of 1.41 percent. Rodgers is just barely ahead of Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who has a career interception rate of 1.42 percent, and not far ahead of Justin Herbert at 1.7 percent and Burrow and Mahomes at 1.8 percent.
Ultimately, the numbers Rodgers puts up this season, when he’ll turn 43 years old, won’t matter a lot to his legacy. He’s an all-time great regardless of what he does this season. But his career numbers will change, and perhaps not entirely for the better.
The Colts have made a pair of roster moves on Monday.
Indianapolis announced the club has signed running back Anderson Castle and waived running back Jordon Vaughn.
Castle is an undrafted running back, having played the 2025 season at Duke after spending 2020-2024 at Appalachian State. He rushed for 488 yards and 12 touchdowns and caught 17 passes for 111 yards last year.
The Colts had added Vaughn as an undrafted free agent out of Abilene Christian earlier this month.
Anthony Richardson wants a trade, and the Colts would love to trade him. But what has been described as a “soft market” by Adam Schefter of ESPN leaves the quarterback with the team for now . . . and maybe the foreseeable future.
Richardson skipped the beginning of the team’s voluntary offseason program, but he showed up May 4 for Phase 2 of the workouts.
“The Colts are still giving me a chance to go out there and work, work hard and potentially get on the field,” Richardson said, via the Indianapolis Star. “Glad to be able to stay in the NFL and put the work in. Just showing up at OTAs, it was a blessing in disguise for me, because I just wanted to work and they allowed me to do that so I’m thankful for that.”
Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in 2023, lost the starting job to Daniel Jones last season. Coach Shane Steichen last week sidestepped a question about whether Richardson would compete with Riley Leonard, a 2025 sixth-round pick, for the backup job to Jones.
Richardson didn’t get into specifics about his future.
“If I don’t put that work in to be a better player then I won’t be in the NFL,” Richardson said. “I just want to work hard and constantly think about my opportunity that I have now and try to take advantage of it.”
Richardson is recovering from a right eye injury after a freak pregame accident on Oct. 12 that left him with a fractured orbital bone.
NFL Network lost its schedule-release show. It’s nevertheless gaining a late-season Saturday doubleheader.
In Week 16, on the day after Christmas, NFLN will televise a game at 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:00 p.m. ET.
The schedule identifies four potential games for the two slots: Buccaneers-Falcons, Bengals-Colts, Commanders-Vikings, and Panthers Steelers.
The decision as to which games will slide from Sunday to Saturday will be made during the season.
Coupled with a Thursday night game and three Christmas Day games, Week 16 will have 10 total windows — one more than Thanksgiving week. That leaves only eight games to be played on the Saturday afternoon windows.
The Colts finished 31st in the league in passing yards allowed during the 2025 season and one way to improve on that ranking would be to put more pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
Defensive end Laiatu Latu will be part of that effort and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo thinks the 2024 first-round pick is up to the task. Latu posted 8.5 sacks last year and Anarumo said in an interview for the team’s website that he thinks that number is going to go up because of the way Latu has built himself up over his first two professional seasons.
“He’s not built like a typical defensive end,” Anarumo said. “Great lower body, strong, but when you see him up top, his upper body wasn’t as developed. He’s done a great job of getting stronger over his career so far. He’s a jack of all trades. He likes different things off the field. He is going to be unbelievable as he continues his process as a football player. He was on his way to 10 plus sacks last year, I think he’ll get there this year without a doubt. He’s always dialed in as a worker, as a teammate. Everything about him says team.”
The Colts added Arden Key, Micheal Clemons, fifth-round pick George Gumbs, and sixth-rounder Caden Curry to their edge options this offseason, but they’ll be looking to Latu to lead that group’s contribution to what they hope will be a thornier defense in 2026.
