Last week, the NFL officially released its 2025 schedule. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, there are obviously a few key storylines. One of them is Aaron Rodgers, who seems likely to sign with the team but hasn’t put pen to paper yet. In Week 8, the Steelers-Packers matchup is set for Sunday night.
Although Rodgers isn’t on the Steelers roster, former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thinks the league had him in mind when making the schedule, especially that Steelers-Packers game.
“Packers at Steelers, that is the Sunday-nighter,” Roethlisberger said on Tuesday’s episode of his Footbahlin podcast. “I know the league came out and said it had nothing to do with Aaron Rodgers, more about Mike Tomlin. I disagree with them, I think they’re lying. They want Aaron to be in that game, obviously.”
Roethlisberger is referring to a statement made last week from Mike North, the NFL’s VP of Broadcast Planning and Scheduling. He mentioned that the Steelers’ schedule is ‘Built for Coach Tomlin.’
That could be true. No matter who their quarterback is, the Steelers have remained one of the more iconic franchises in all of American sports. They’re going to get their share of primetime games every year.
Looking at the schedule, though, it’s hard not to wonder whether Rodgers’ potential arrival could have played into the league’s thinking. Sure, the Steelers and Packers could have been in the Sunday night game anyway, given how historic both franchises are. Still, putting Rodgers’ former team against his new team in a standalone, primetime matchup would be excellent for all parties.
The Packers aren’t the only matchup on the Steelers’ slate that plays into that theory, either. Pittsburgh opens up its season on the road against the New York Jets. Having Rodgers play his most recent team, against a quarterback in Justin Fields who is also playing his former team to open the season, makes a ton of sense. Putting the Jets and Steelers on the first Sunday of the season feels like something the league would have done if they expected Rodgers to sign with Pittsburgh.
That game really could be a revenge game for both parties. Fields hasn’t said anything negative about Pittsburgh since leaving town. However, he’d probably be happy to stick it to the team that clearly valued him less than New York did this offseason. Rodgers has also been outspoken about his displeasure with how his time ended with the Jets. There would be plenty of motivation for him as well.
Again, the Steelers being in the spotlight is nothing new. And North could very well be telling the truth that they built the schedule for Tomlin after all. The way those two matchups are scheduled is interesting, though. It’s hard to think the league doesn’t want to play into the Rodgers aspect of each game.
