The Pittsburgh Steelers underwent an aggressive offseason in 2025 that saw General Manager Omar Khan turn over a lot of positions on the roster. The most notable addition is quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who is coming off of two questionable seasons with the New York Jets. He will kick off his time with the Steelers by playing his former team in MetLife Stadium on Sunday, which is a contest that is loaded with storylines on both sides. It is hard to know what to expect from Pittsburgh and the new-look roster, as various projections and predictions have the Steelers finishing all throughout the final standings.
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Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks at his play sheet during training camp in Latrobe, PA.
Rodgers is not the only player that was brought in by Pittsburgh. Khan also executed several other trades, including acquiring DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, and Jonnu Smith. All three of those players should be able to make significant impacts, but it might take a while to build up chemistry and find a way to execute. NFL executives around the league were asked to rank the teams in the AFC for The Athletic before the season kicks off, and Pittsburgh's average ranking was seventh. One executive isn't as hopeful.
"Pittsburgh just seems like a calamity waiting to happen with all the hodge-podge pieces that were added," the anonymous executive said for The Athletic.
This executive had Pittsburgh ranked eighth in the AFC going into the 2025 season, which is a completely realistic projection for the Steelers. Pittsburgh has consistently found itself in the playoff hunt heading into the final weeks of the regular season, and finishing eighth would have the Steelers just barely missing out on acquiring a Wild Card spot in the postseason.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin and kicker Chris Boswell (9) standing on the field during a 2025 training camp practice at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
The executive remained anonymous, but he believes Pittsburgh added too many new pieces to be able to find a meaningful amount of success in 2025. This is a fair point, as the roster looks a lot different than it did in 2024. Whenever a ton of new pieces are added to a roster, it takes time for things to start working out, and things can certainly begin to go bad for Pittsburgh before they start to go well. The term "calamity" was used in describing Pittsburgh in 2025, which describes a disaster, which is similar to how Rodgers' time with the Jets went.
The four-time league MVP is likely using that time with New York as a form of motivation, and he wants things to go better this time around with the Steelers. This is especially true since it is likely his final season playing professional football, and he wants to go out on top. There is also something to be said about Pittsburgh being a stable and well-run organization, and how the franchise can handle all the new faces being brought in, in a proper way.
Steelers' Mike Tomlin Could Snap His Highly Coveted Streak In 2025
If things go do disastrous like the executive predicted they will, Head Coach Mike Tomlin would certainly be in danger of losing his streak of never having a losing season. A disaster implies that Pittsburgh would lose more games than it would win, which would only put more pressure on Tomlin and the rest of the organization to find a way to win in the near future.
AP Photo
Steelers Owner Art Rooney II (left) and Head Coach Mike Tomlin (right) oversee practice during the 2021 minicamp in Pittsburgh.
Some fans have been clamoring for Pittsburgh to have a losing season so that the Steelers could pick high in the NFL Draft and find a franchise quarterback, but any real fan knows that is not seen as an option in Pittsburgh. If things start to go poorly, Tomlin and his staff will be working to find a way to turn things around quickly.
What do you think about the executive's prediction for the 2025 season? Let us know in the comments below!
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