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It’s official – Aaron Rodgers is now a Pittsburgh Steeler, signing on Thursday.
So that means, barring injury, Rodgers will travel to MetLife Stadium for opening day to face one of his former teams, the Jets.
If Rodgers plays well and leads Pittsburgh to an impressive win over the Jets, in past years, that kind of scenario could have turned into a major PR issue for the Jets (or most teams).
You move on from a player, especially a QB, and he comes in and beats you; that is not ideal.
But no matter what happens in the game, Glenn will be fine.
A few months ago, he inked a long-term deal to be the team’s coach. Adam Schefter announced it was for five years.
For how much? Well since Ben Johnson got $13 million to coach the Chicago Bears around the same time Glenn landed with the Jets, you would have to think the money is close to that.
One very plugged-in source close to the Jets scene told us he believes the deal is in the vicinity of $11 million a year.
But whether it’s $11, $12 or $13 million a year, Glenn isn’t going anywhere for a while, and has the bully pulpit, at least for the next couple of years.
He decided to move on from Rodgers, and that is that.
Why he decided to move on is unclear. Neither Glenn nor Darren Mougey has explained the decision to the media, and that is their right. They don’t work for us. I’m just saying I don’t know the exact reason they moved on because they never said.
But they did, and if anybody makes a big deal about Rodgers returning to MetLife Stadium leading up to the game, Glenn will likely shoot it down in the press conferences. If his press conferences over his first few months on the job are any indication of what might happen in Week 1, once Glenn shoots down the questions, the media will stop asking. He’s very intimidating, and as we have seen, once he says, “I’m done talking” about something, the questions tend to stop.
And the same thing will likely happen after the game, if Rodgers leads the Steelers over the Jets.
Glenn will likely shut down the Rodgers questions.
And Rodgers could go out this year and have a great season, and the Jets could struggle, and it’s not going to impact Glenn’s job security.
But the game was put in Week 1 for a reason – the league likely knew Rodgers was going to Pittsburgh for months. They denied it, but they likely knew. It sounds like he was waiting until the veteran minicamp to sign.
The TV ratings will be through the roof. The stadium will be sold out, not just filled with Jets fans, but Pittsburgh fans making the six-hour drive.
In a way, this is a good time to get Rodgers and the Steelers. The veteran QB wasn’t there for most of the off-season program, aside from the veteran minicamp, and will likely play very little in the preseason, so it could take a few games for him to get comfortable with his new teammates and system.
So it’s probably better to get him in Week 1, as opposed to, let’s say, Week 6.
And Justin Fields very well might have one of the best games of the year in Week 1, and I will tell you why:
Week 1 is the hardest game of the year for opposing defenses to prepare for, because of all the new strategic wrinkles and bells and whistles coming out of the gate, with four months to prepare, especially with a new OC (Tanner Engstrand pictured above), who has shown no tendencies on tape. You have no idea what to expect.
I’m not saying Fields won’t be good after Week 1. He probably will be, but that first game, with all the chicanery with read-options, bootlegs, gadget plays, Fields could have a big game.
But even if Rodgers has a big game and beats his old team, it probably won’t be a big story like it might have been in the past.
Glenn will likely shut down the questions quickly, and most will oblige.
June 6, 2025
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