Aaron Rodgers Top Landing Spots For Fantasy Football: 2026 NFL Free Agency Outlook

March 13, 2026

John's potential landing spots for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers for 2026 fantasy football? His break down of the top landing spots for Rodgers.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has yet to sign with a team for the 2026 season. He was... fine for the Steelers in 2025, but hardly a difference-maker at the quarterback position. Despite his age, he's still a startable QB, and can be a decent bridge for a team that wants to stay competitive while they search for a better option or develop a young signal-caller.

Right now, most teams have their starting QB locked in for the 2026 season. It seems like it's a greater number than usual, and there are only a handful of teams that aren't looking to start someone that's already in the building. I'll be excluding teams like the Las Vegas Raiders, who have the No. 1 overall pick.

They're expected to draft former Indiana Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza, who's entering the 2026 NFL Draft. Most teams don't have a top pick in the draft, though, so which teams would be the best landing spots for Rodgers? Let's dive in.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings immediately come to mind. They spent a top-10 pick on quarterback J.J. McCarthy in the 2024 NFL Draft. He missed his entire first season due to a torn meniscus after a preseason game, but eventually got the start in 2025. Aside from his epic comeback against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, it was a total disaster.

McCarthy looked like he had no clue what he was doing on the field to the untrained eye. His massive lack of college starting experience was immediately evident. He struggled with timing routes, getting the ball out quickly, accuracy, avoiding sacks, staying away from turnovers, and reading opposing defenses.

McCarthy's first season as a starter would make most teams want to move on from him, or at least make plans to move on from him without handing him the starting job in the future. His play was dreadful, and the coaching staff doesn't want to waste years of a franchise developing a QB that they think simply might not have the skill set to be start-worthy.

What a segment this morning on @GetUpESPN 👀

SCOTT: JJ McCarthy worst QB ever, wants MN to land M. Willis --> SCHRAGER: That's NOT happening --> TANNENBAUM: Murray should pay MN to acquire him

ALL agree that Vikings have a Super Bowl roster and MUST get Justin Jefferson a real… pic.twitter.com/DnHEKbyh7X

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) February 20, 2026

The Vikings, meanwhile, are an ideal landing spot for a quarterback, which is a further indictment of McCarthy's failures. Rodgers would be well-served throwing to one of the NFL's best wide receivers and likely future Hall-of-Famer Justin Jefferson. Tight end T.J. Hockenson and WR Jordan Addison, two excellent players at their positions, round out the featured group of receivers.

Additionally, the team's offensive line played reasonably well when healthy, though McCarthy made them look a lot worse than they actually were, with his propensity to run himself into sacks. Head coach Kevin O'Connell is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL. We saw the Vikings offense play very well in 2024 when QB Sam Darnold was the signal-caller.

Though Darnold struggled at the end of the season and in the playoffs, KOC and the supporting cast around the Vikings quarterback make them an excellent landing spot for a QB without a job. This year's rookie quarterback class is also quite barren, so they shouldn't have much of an issue signing Rodgers as long as they like him.

Arizona Cardinals

All the indications I've seen from the Cardinals organization's moves in the past few days have indicated, according to my analysis, that they're intent on taking for the 2026 NFL Draft. It makes sense. They just cut their franchise quarterback, Kyler Murray, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Murray struggled over the past two seasons, and this year's draft class doesn't seem to feature a ton of depth. If Arizona wanted to be reasonably competitive, though, it could sign Rodgers, who would benefit from pass-catchers Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. Arizona's offensive line isn't anything special, though.

Still, the Cardinals are a "good" landing spot because Rodgers would get the starting job over QB Jacoby Brissett. There are certainly plenty of better offensive environments to play in, but those feature a much younger (and often better) starting QB that would make Rodgers simply a backup, and he'd be irrelevant for fantasy purposes.

#Cardinals Trey McBride went CRAZY in 2025👀😤

126 rec (2nd)
1,239 yards (6th)
11 TDs (2nd)

Looking to go off again in 2026 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/0KSVSAc38Y

— Redzone Rants (@Rz_Rants) March 9, 2026

McBride is a huge benefit to any quarterback playing for Arizona. An elite tight end is the most difficult coverage assignment for a defense in the NFL, and McBride had an amazing season in 2025, when he broke the record for most catches by a TE in NFL history. His film has been fantastic for two seasons in a row now.

Rodgers is aging, but he can still throw with accuracy and zip, and a big target like McBride would help him remain productive even in his final years in the NFL. Harrison, though disappointing considering his draft capital, is also solid. The biggest downsides have to be the offensive line and the offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett.

Still, Rodgers is good friends with Hackett, so pairing the two would make some sense, and Rodgers would have familiarity with the scheme he'd be playing in, as the two were paired two seasons ago with the New York Jets.

Miami Dolphins

Star wideout Tyreek Hill was cut from the team after a disappointing 2024 season and a massive torn ACL/multi-ligament season-ending injury in 2025. It seems crazy that Hill is without a job just two seasons after his monster 171-catch, 1799-yard, 13-touchdown season in 2023. But the second meaning of the NFL is "Not For Long" after all.

The Dolphins also fired head coach Mike McDaniel after the 2025 season. It's not hard to see why this might be a mistake -- while his offense regressed in 2024 and 2025 as compared with 2023 and 2022, it was largely due to the poor play of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

But WR Jaylen Waddle remains, as does running back De'Von Achane. They could absorb the bulk of the targets from Rodgers. The Dolphins are in good draft position, too, and could snag one of the rookie wideouts, Makai Lemon or Jordyn Tyson. Either one of them could elevate the Dolphins to having one of the better pass-catching rooms in the NFL -- yes, we include Achane here.

What a TD catch by De’Von Achane 😮

MIAvsCAR on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/uQ4TI2DH2R

— NFL (@NFL) October 5, 2025

Achane is one of the best receiving backs in the NFL, and he and San Francisco 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey are the two players I consider to be absolute cheat codes on check-down plays. They excel at creating yards after the catch, which gives their quarterbacks opportunities to rack up free fantasy points on those throws and helps keep the chains moving.

Miami could sneakily be a great landing spot for the longtime vet, as long as he doesn't get too distracted with the nightlife in the area. Rodgers is married, so maybe that will help.

Conclusion

There really aren't any other great landing spots for Rodgers right now that make sense. He's 42 years old, though, so it's reasonable to assume that very few teams still want him. It's possible we've seen the last of him as a starter on the football field, too, and if he refuses to play as a backup, the last of him overall.

He's had a legendary career, but if he doesn't land on one of the three teams above, it's hard to see him having a major impact as a QB1 moving forward. The Vikings are by far the best landing spot for him, thanks to the elite talent on their roster and in their coaching staff. If you have A-Rod in a dynasty fantasy football league, you'll have to hope he plays for Minnesota in 2026!

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