Green Bay Packers
NFL coaches will be wearing new and improved headsets this season.
Sony, which provides the headsets that all NFL coaches wear on the sidelines and in the booth, announced today that it has designed new headsets after consulting with the league, coaches and football operations staff.
The headsets have been tested in extreme temperatures and in the rain, and were tested using real crowd noises exceeding 100 decibels for ideal noise canceling in NFL stadiums. The headsets will have a custom-built microphone that isolates the coach’s voice and automatically mutes when lifted.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur was involved in the testing of the new headsets and released a statement through Sony saying they’ll be an improvement for the league and its coaches.
“As a head coach, communication to my staff and players is everything. Sony took the time to understand exactly what we need—from clarity in noisy environments, to comfort and reliability when the pressure is highest,” LaFleur said. “This headset took all factors of the game into consideration, and I am looking forward to being able to rely on them during the game throughout this season and beyond.”
Sony’s newly designed headsets went through a testing phase in select games in 2024 and will be worn by all coaches in all games this season.
Twenty years after he was drafted by the Packers, quarterback Aaron Rodgers is a Steeler. He could have been a Steeler 20 years ago.
Appearing on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh, former Steelers pro personnel director Doug Whaley said that, as Rodgers plunged through the first round, the Steelers were watching the situation.
“We wouldn’t have had to [trade up],” Whaley said, via Nick Farabaugh of PennLive.com. “We would’ve just sat there. We had him higher than that. We were surprised he was slipping.”
The Packers ended the slide at No. 24. The Steelers didn’t pick that year until No. 30. (They took tight end Heath Miller.)
If Rodgers had been on the board at No. 30, what would the Steelers have done? They’d used a first-round pick in 2004 on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who helped the team to a 15-1 record and a berth in the AFC Championship.
Rodgers is the objectively better passer. But Roethlisberger won two Super Bowls. But Rodgers beat Roethsliberger in a Super Bowl.
And in the first Super Bowl won by the Steelers since the 1979 season, Roethlisberger didn’t have a stellar day. He completed nine of 21 passes for 123 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions in the 21-10 win over the Seahawks. (He also rushed for 25 yards and a touchdown on seven attempts.)
What would Rodgers have done in Pittsburgh, as a rookie and beyond? We’ll never know. But we will know how he does in 2025, four years after Roethlisberger retired.
The ever-changing cast of Good Morning Football has undergone another change.
Via AwfulAnnouncing.com, former NFL defensive back Will Blackmon has joined the cast for the upcoming season.
A fourth-round pick from Boston College in 2006, Blackmon spent four years with the Packers, two with the Giants, two with the Jaguars, and two with the Commanders. He last played in the NFL in 2016.
Blackmon, who also returned punts and kickoffs during his time in the NFL, was a member of the Super Bowl XLVI champion Giants.
He had served on a rotating cast of contributors following the departure of Akbar Gbaja-Biamila after one season. Blackmon did enough to get the full-time gig.
The show has been in a state of flux for most of the past year, with a surprising move of the production from New York to Los Angeles (and a 5:00 a.m. local start time) and the departure of multiple members of the cast, including Jason McCourty and Peter Schrager.
We’ve recently taken a look at the coaches on the hot seat for 2025. This week, a reader asked the same question as it relates to quarterbacks.
Plenty of them are feeling the heat, or should be, this season. Let’s take a look at each spot, based on the loose arrangement of the conferences and divisions that has been tattooed onto my brain.
Justin Fields, Jets: His contract has $10 million in guarantees that spill into 2026. That’s not enough to guarantee him two years as the starter. He needs to do enough in 2025 to earn 2026 — and beyond.
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins: His contract guarantees his pay through 2026. If the Dolphins fall flat and change coaches, the next coach likely will want a fresh start at quarterback. While the cap charges will complicate a split before 2027, every high-end quarterback contract eventually leads to a big cap charge when the relationship ends. The next coach (and the next G.M., if owner Stephen Ross cleans house) may want to rip the Band-Aid off in one motion.
Aaron Rodgers, Steelers: He says he’s pretty sure this is his last year. If he doesn’t play well enough for the Steelers in 2025 and if he wants to keep playing in 2026, the Steelers may give him the same cold shoulder that Russell Wilson got after 2024.
All Browns quarterbacks: With Jacksonville’s first-round pick in their back pocket, the Browns could be in position to get a future franchise quarterback in next year’s draft. That raises the stakes for every quarterback currently on the Cleveland roster. Because there’s a chance none of them will be the starter in 2026.
Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson, Colts: It already feels like Jones will be the Week 1 starter. He’ll then have a chance to lock the revolving door the Colts have had since Andrew Luck retired. If he doesn’t, the Colts will be looking elsewhere in 2026. As to Richardson, his best play is to play better than he ever has, if and when he gets the chance.
Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars: Every new coach wants his own quarterback, except when the coach inherits a true franchise quarterback. But Tony Dungy landing with Peyton Manning doesn’t happen very often. And it’s not clear whether Lawrence is a short-list franchise quarterback. He was on track to be one as of 2022. The past two years haven’t been good enough, long-term contract notwithstanding. What do coach Liam Coen and G.M. James Gladstone want? If Lawrence doesn’t play better in 2025 than he did in 2024, Lawrence and everyone else may find out in 2026.
Geno Smith, Raiders: He’s being mentioned simply to say he’s not on the hot seat. He has $18.5 million in guarantees for 2026, and his close ties to Pete Carroll will keep Smith around for at least two years. (Unless, of course, a certain minority owner decides otherwise.)
Dak Prescott, Cowboys: He’s probably not on the hot seat, because his $60 million per year contract would wreak havoc on the salary cap if the Cowboys were to cut or trade him (yes, he has a no-trade clause, but he can waive it) in 2026. The complication for the Cowboys is that his $45 million salary for 2027 becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2026 league year. They’re basically stuck — all because they waited too long to give him his second contract, and then waited too long to give him his third contract.
Russell Wilson, Giants: If he’s the Week 1 starter (if Jaxson Dart lives up to his first-round draft stock, Wilson shouldn’t be), the clock will be ticking. Immediately. In 2004, the Giants benched Kurt Warner after nine games for Eli Manning, even though the Giants were 5-4 at the time. When Dart is ready, Dart will play. Even if Wilson makes it through 2025 without getting benched, he’ll have to do plenty to keep Dart on the sideline for 2026.
Jordan Love, Packers: He’s not on the hot seat per se, but he needs to play better in 2025 than he did in 2024. If not, he will be on the hot seat in 2026. The wild card in Green Bay is new CEO Ed Policy, who operates as the de facto owner of the team.
J.J. McCarthy, Vikings: He’s getting his shot to play, after a knee injury wiped out his rookie season. Anything other than an outright disaster will ensure his status for 2026. At worst, he’d have to compete with a more established veteran next year.
Tyler Shough, Saints: He’ll need to do enough in 2025 to earn the chance to do well enough in 2026 to get the Saints to not pursue the grandson of Archie Manning in 2027. (And, yes, I think Arch Manning will spend two years as a college starter before entering the draft.)
Bryce Young, Panthers: In year three, he needs to continue the growth he showed late in the 2024 season, in order to secure a fourth season, the fifth-year option, and ideally (for him) a second contract.
Kyler Murray, Cardinals: His contract gives him two more years of financial security. But this is the team that drafted Murray a year after using the 10th overall pick on Josh Rosen (not Lamar Jackson). So who knows what the Cardinals will do if Murray doesn’t propel the team into contention this year?
Sam Darnold, Seahawks: He has a one-year deal, as a practical matter. And the Seahawks seem to really like rookie Jalen Milroe. Darnold will need to play very well to secure his status for 2026.
Matthew Stafford, Rams: It’s not the “hot seat” as much as it’s a mutual understanding that player and team are taking things one year at a time. After the season, both sides will have to recommit. Whether the Rams will want to do that depends on how Stafford plays in 2025, and on their other options for staffing the position in 2026.
That’s a lot of names. But it’s no surprise. There aren’t many true, unquestioned, year-after-year franchise quarterbacks. And the teams that don’t have one are always hoping to find one.
It has created more quarterback movement in recent years than ever before. Plenty of the names listed above will be on the move in 2026.
Former NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith has a book coming out in early August. And Daniel Kaplan of AwfulAnnouncing.com has gotten an advance PDF of Turf Wars.
There’s some interesting stuff in there.
We had a little something back around the time of the Super Bowl. The full book apparently has a lot more something. Including some observations about former Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a vocal opponent of the 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“The god of Cheesehead Nation was isolated and dismissive,” Smith writes, regarding Rodgers’s demeanor during a player meeting. “He sat in the back row of the meeting room, issuing loud sighs before standing for a dramatic exit. An incredible quarterback, to be sure, but an even more impressive antagonist.”
Smith also says this about Rodgers: “In August 2021, my phone chirped with a text from Aaron Rodgers. ‘Can you call me?’ it read. Could I not run into traffic instead?”
Smith and I now have something else in common, thanks to his book. If asked, Rodgers likely would suggest that people not waste their time “reading crap like that.”
David Bakhtiari could be heading to “The Island.” Then again, maybe he’s already there.
On Monday, the former Packers tackle tweeted a video from the recent wedding of current Packers quarterback Jordan Love. Bakhtiari added this: “Just happy at least one of my quarterbacks invited me to their wedding.”
Love and Bakhtiari had limited time together. Bakhtiari started only one game in 2023, Love’s first year as a starter and the left tackle’s last year in Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers and Bakhtiari had many years together with the Packers.
Making the Bakhtiari remark even more interesting is the general haze of uncertainty surrounding the Rodgers wedding. Up to and including whether a wedding even happened.
We know, we know. Rodgers doesn’t want anyone to talk about his wedding. When you’re one of the most famous players in the NFL, however, you don’t get to dictate the terms of the attention you receive. Especially when you show up out of nowhere with a wedding ring. Before showing up without it. Before showing up with it prominently in the photo of you signing a contract with your new team.
With Rodgers cloaking so much of his life in mystery, it’s impossible to know when, where, or who he married. Or if he even is married.
Maybe the ring is a Costanza-style sociological experiment aimed at seeing whether women will hit on guys who wear wedding bands.
Regardless, Bakhtiari went there. We don’t know much, but we know Rodgers won’t be happy about it.
It’s going to be one last ride for Aaron Rodgers in 2025.
In a Tuesday interview with the Pat McAfee show, Rodgers revealed that he’s likely to retire after spending the coming season with the Steelers.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is it,” Rodgers said. “That’s why we just did a one-year deal. Steelers didn’t need to put any extra years on it or anything. This was really about finishing with a lot of love, and fun, and peace for the career that I’ve had.
“I mean, I’ve played 20 freaking years. It’s been a long run and I’ve enjoyed it. What better place to finish than in one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL? With Mike Tomlin and a great group of leadership, and great guys, and a city that expects you to win.”
Rodgers, 41, officially signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh earlier this month, ending a flirtation that had lasted throughout the offseason.
With this revelation, it now means that the Jets, Patriots, Bengals, Chargers, Bears, Ravens, Lions, and Browns will all be a part of Rodgers’ season-long goodbye, as those are the teams the Steelers will play on the road. Pittsburgh will also host Green Bay on Sunday Night Football in Week 8, setting up a potentially emotional showdown against the team that Rodgers spent the vast majority of his decades-long career with.
The Steelers — who usually play their starters in the preseason — will also play the Jaguars and the Panthers on the road in August.
Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst won’t be getting a contract extension before the start of the 2025 season, but he is working on new deals with a couple of the team’s players.
During an appearance on Cheesehead TV, Gutekunst was asked about extending right tackle Zach Tom. Tom has been a starter the last two seasons and is heading into the final year of his deal.
Tom said recently that he’s not focused on his next contract, but Gutekunst said the two sides are trying to get something done and that he hopes it happens soon.
“We’ve had really healthy conversations with Zach about locking him up,” Gutekunst said. “Certainly that’s something we’d like to do. These things take time.”
The Packers passed on linebacker Quay Walker’s fifth-year option, but Gutekunst said that was because of the way outside linebackers inflate the salary and that the team feels Walker’s best football is in front of him. Gutekunst added that they’re “going down that road with him as well” in terms of contract talks because the Packers would like Walker in Green Bay beyond 2025.
Free agent cornerback Rasul Douglas is still looking for a new team. He doesn’t think that team will be the Packers.
Asked by a Packers fan on social media whether he’ll sign with Green Bay after the departure of cornerback Jaire Alexander, Douglas indicated that the Packers have shown no interest.
“Don’t think that will happen buddy,” Douglas wrote.
Douglas played some of his best football for the Packers, intercepting 10 passes in his 36 games in Green Bay. But the Packers traded him to the Bills during the 2023 season, and it sounds like a return is not in the cards.
The 30-year-old Douglas started 15 games for the Bills last season and could compete for a starting job somewhere in the NFL this season, but he’s still waiting for the right contract offer.
It didn’t take Bears quarterback Caleb Williams long to decide he hates Packers fans just like generations of Bears before him.
Williams said at Fanatics Fest that when it comes to negative experiences with fans, it was the fans in Green Bay who stand out from his rookie year.
“Probably Green Bay,” Williams said. “I mean, they suck. After the game, after we won at Lambeau — 1-0 at Lambeau — we tried to do the Lambeau Leap, tried to jump into the crowd where our fans were. [Packers fans] just started throwing everything at you, push you off. The Lambeau Leap, it’s a real leap. It’s not a little baby jump, you actually have to high jump, basically. And they’re pushing you, pushing your face.”
By winning at Lambeau Field in Week 18, Williams salvaged a good conclusion to a disappointing rookie season. He’ll be back at Lambeau in Week 14 this season, when he’ll be motivated to run his record in Green Bay to 2-0. And where he’s just given the fans in Green Bay some extra motivation to tell him he sucks.