The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2025 schedule has officially been released. It includes several big games, including the league’s first regular-season game in Ireland. However, their season opener against the New York Jets is also noteworthy, especially with Aaron Rodgers potentially landing in Pittsburgh. That could be a sign that the NFL thinks that Rodgers will sign with the Steelers. However, Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning and scheduling, stated that it isn’t the case.
“You’ll see Pittsburgh at the Jets are on CBS at 1 o’clock in the afternoon in Week 1, along with seven other NFL games all at the same time,” North said Wednesday via a CBS Sports article written by Jonathan Jones. “I think if the league knew, we probably would’ve scheduled that game for a national television window. So, at worst, it’s Justin Fields against his old team.
“At best, it’s Aaron [Rodgers] going up against one of his old teams. Look at what we did with Aaron [Rodgers’] first game the last two years (both Monday night games). If we knew something, I think you would’ve seen it reflected in the schedule. That being said, still a good game.”
North makes it clear that the league has no inside knowledge or strong feeling about Rodgers. That Jets game is already interesting without Rodgers involved. It should see Justin Fields getting to face the Steelers, his former team. There’s intrigue there.
However, if Rodgers were to sign with the Steelers, that game would become far more exciting. Rodgers spent the last two seasons with the Jets, and his end there wasn’t pretty. He made some comments that made it seem like he didn’t appreciate how they handled releasing him. In particular, it sounded like he had an odd encounter with new Jets head coach Aaron Glenn.
While North points to the Jets game as a reason to say that the NFL doesn’t believe Rodgers is going to Pittsburgh, a few other games could contradict that statement.
Perhaps the biggest piece of evidence is the Steelers’ Week 8 game against the Green Bay Packers. That’s scheduled to be a primetime game on Sunday night. While the Packers and Steelers are two of the NFL’s most historic franchises, that isn’t their biggest opponent this year.
However, that game becomes far more entertaining if Rodgers is with the Steelers. He built his Hall of Fame career with the Packers, and since leaving Green Bay, he’s yet to face them. That could be one of the most interesting games of the year if Rodgers is a Steeler. It would certainly warrant being on primetime.
While the NFL probably doesn’t have any insider information on Rodgers, it does seem like they wanted to cover their bases, at least with the Packers game. That matchup could prove to be too important to risk putting in a less notable spot. We’ll see if Rodgers will have the chance to face his former teams.
