ESPN will have the resources to see if this is actually the first time ever, but from where I sit I think it is. The Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets open the 2025 season with starting quarterbacks that last year were the opening day starters for their opponent.
In 2024, the Pittsburgh Steelers kicked off the season with Justin Fields behind center. He is now the starting quarterback for the New York Jets. The quarterback that opened last year in New York was Aaron Rodgers, who will lead the Steelers into MetLife Stadium tomorrow.
Neither franchise was happy with their starting quarterback last year.
The Jets two-year experiment with an aging signal caller had run its course and first-year head coach Aaron Glenn arrived knowing he wanted a change at the most important position on the field. The Rodgers saga in New York arrived with all the fanfare of the circus coming to town and results no better than an outhouse burning down.
In his first season in New York, he suffered a season ending injury on the campaign’s first series of downs. Okay, a year off for a guy approaching 40 years old, which is like 74 in football years, started last season with renewed hopes for the Jets and head coach Robert Saleh.
Didn’t go well.