Aaron Rodgers has generated significant interest with his drawn-out decision on whether to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the NFL schedule release only added more fuel to the fire.
Rodgers has met with top officials in Pittsburgh, but shied away from making a final call on whether he will continue his NFL career with the Steelers. The NFL Network's Rich Eisen suggested that the league may have some inside knowledge of his plans, which he gleaned from the league's decision to schedule the Steelers against Rodgers' former team, the New York Jets, in the season opener.
"It does appear that the NFL believes Aaron Rodgers will be the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers," Eisen said. "Otherwise, why would they put they put the Steelers in the home of the New York Jets Week 1?"
"It does appear that the NFL believes Aaron Rodgers will be the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Otherwise, why would they put they put the Steelers in the home of the New York Jets Week 1?"
NFL scheduling executive Mike North shot down the conspiracy theory. Speaking to The Associated Press, North said the league simply uses the information it has at hand and doesn't try to guess what might happen.
He explicitly added that the NFL has no idea if Rodgers will ultimately sign with the Steelers.
“We tried to play it down the middle,” North said. “We don’t know anything more than than anybody else. The schedule was built for Coach Tomlin and for the Steelers. If Aaron decides to play, it probably just makes many, if not all, the Steelers games a little more interesting.”
