After a relatively busy offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers are entering the 2025 season as one of the more divisive teams across the league. They are going all in this year, with legendary quarterback Aaron Rodgers being brought in to lead the charge. However, after a rough campaign with the New York Jets in 2024, some folks are wondering how much he’s got left in the tank.
Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon on his fourth snap in 2023 with the Jets before returning to action and playing in all 17 games for them last year. His numbers weren’t awful (3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns), but New York won only five games, leading their new regime to release him early in the offseason.
After deciding to put off retirement, Rodgers signed a one-year, $13.65 million contract with the Steelers in free agency. With a strong roster around him, Pittsburgh is hoping that it can replicate the Super Bowl run the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went on in 2020 after they signed Tom Brady in free agency.
The reasons for skepticism certainly make a lot of sense, but longtime CBS play-by-play broadcaster Jim Nantz isn’t buying it. Nantz revealed that he believes the Steelers will enjoy a great deal of success with Rodgers under center, which could lead to him working a handful of their games throughout the 2025 season.
“I think it’s gonna work out,” Nantz said on “Beyond The Booth.” “I know this is, the momentum, I’m going against the popular viewpoint of what happened with the Jets. It was better than what people gave him credit for, by a lot … I think getting around Mike Tomlin, having DK Metcalf, just the culture in Pittsburgh … Is it gonna work? As I sit here today, I believe it’s gonna work.”
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Pittsburgh made the playoffs last year despite receiving mediocre quarterback play from Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. If Rodgers can come in and play even remotely close to the Pro Bowl level he’s been at for much of his career, it’s fair to assume this team could be pretty good. Time will tell what the Steelers are capable of, but Nantz is high on them entering the 2025 season.
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