The Nikefication of the NFL will continue.
One of the overlooked items that emerged during the draft is this: Starting in 2025, the NFL will introduce “Rivalries” jerseys inspired by the communities of the teams.
The first wave, debuting in 2025, will cover the teams of the AFC East and NFC West. The league will add two new divisions every year.
Via Jonathan Jones of CBSSports.com, the jerseys will be worn only by the home team in a division rivalry. Every team will be required to wear the “Rivalries” jersey at least once every three years. It can be used more frequently than that, against any of its three division rivals.
The AFC East and NFC West “Rivalries” jerseys will debut later this year, before the start of the season, for the Patriots, Bills, Dolphins, Jets, 49ers, Seahawks, Rams, and Cardinals.
While teams are limited to four games with throwback or alternate jerseys, this is just another jersey that fans can buy. Which is the obvious motivation here. The most zealous fans will want to have another jersey. And another. And another.
Of course, if the economy goes sideways, maybe the fans will have two jerseys instead of thirty.
Last year, the NFL gave Aaron Rodgers and the Jets a slew of early-season prime-time and short-week games because, as NFL V.P. of broadcast planning Mike North candidly admitted, “I feel like the Jets kind of owe us one.”
This year, Rodgers has yet to sign with the Steelers. If he does it before the schedule is released on May 14, the league will know it’s getting a marquee team and a marquee quarterback for a slew of standalone games. If he waits, maybe the schedule won’t have as many prime-time appearances from (checks depth chart) Mason Rudolph.
At this point, it makes sense for Rodgers to wait until the schedule is locked and loaded.
Of course, the league could be assuming that Rodgers will be a Steeler. Two years ago, North said in April that the league was building the 272-game slate under the impression that Rodgers would eventually be traded to the Jets. (Of course, Rodgers had already said he intended to play for the Jets; it was just a matter of working out the deal.)
It’s one thing to assume he’ll be a Steeler. It’s another to know. And if the league knows Rodgers will be a Steeler, the Steelers could have their routine disrupted by multiple Sunday-to-Thursday turnarounds and night games and other kickoff times that deviate from the preferred rhythm of Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET.
Rodgers shrugged it off a year ago. “I love it,” he told Adam Schein of SiriusXM Mag Dog Radio. “We are must-watch TV. And that’s pretty obvious. Everybody knows that. Whether you love me or hate me, people wanna see me play. They enjoy watching me play. And we are a team to watch this year. Not surprising. Six prime-time games in the first 11 or 12 weeks. I love it. You know, make it difficult.”
It was. Very difficult. The Jets went 5-12.
Although the league harps on competitive integrity and balance, that goes out the window when it comes to peeling away from the pack those games that will draw the biggest audiences in the best spots. An irregular schedule absolutely becomes a factor in a team’s ability to win as many games as it can.
It’s one thing for the teams that played deep into the postseason to be expected to have a more difficult schedule the next year, as it relates to when the games will be played. It’s another thing to drop a team into Thursday nights and Monday nights and Sunday nights based simply on the idea that a certain team will draw more than another. (The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season.)
That’s how the fans want it. It’s good for them, it’s good for the networks, it’s good for the league. It’s not necessarily good for the teams.
For the Steelers, owner Art Rooney II has said he likes to minimize the prime-time home games. If Rodgers officially becomes a Steeler before May 14, there will be plenty of Pittsburgh games, home and away, at night and/or at 4:25 p.m. ET.
Although enhanced flexing will make late-season shifts from Sunday afternoon to any of the three prime-time windows unavoidable for the Steelers if they’re in postseason contention, the first half of the season is where a team can end up with a screwy schedule that complicates the effort to properly prepare — physically and mentally.
Again, the league quite possibly assumes Rodgers will sign with the Steelers. With or without him, the Steelers have plenty of compelling games in 2025. They host the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Bills, Packers, Colts, Dolphins, Vikings, and Seahawks. (One of those games will be played in Ireland.) They visit their AFC North rivals, along with the Bears, Lions, Chargers, Patriots, and Jets.
The point for now is simple. Rodgers has yet to sign. With OTAs not starting until May 27 and with the schedule coming on May 14, why not wait two more weeks?
Waiting won’t make the eventual schedule any more arduous. Not waiting could.
Quarterback Jordan Travis, a fifth-round pick in last year’s draft, has informed the Jets of his intention to retire, New York announced on Wednesday.
Travis suffered a fractured and dislocated ankle in Nov. 2023 while playing quarterback for Florida State and spent all of 2024 on the Jets’ non-football injury list, given that he suffered the injury in college. But Travis’ leg is not in a place where he can continue his career in the pros.
“On November 18, 2023, my life took an unexpected turn,” Travis said in a statement released by the team. “I gave everything I had to the rehab process but despite all my efforts, my leg never responded the way we hoped. After much prayer and consultation with the doctors, medical experts and my agent, I’ve been medically advised to retire from the game I love so deeply.”
Travis will be placed on the reserve/retired list.
“Jordan has informed us of his intent to retire due to the injury he sustained while at Florida State,” Jets G.M. Darren Mougey said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that he was unable to get back on the field after working so hard. We support his decision and wish him only the best.”
Travis played one year at Louisville before transferring to Florida State in 2019. He played 46 games for FSU, throwing for 8,644 yards and 65 touchdowns.
Shedeur Sanders apparently isn’t the only prospect who got punked during the draft.
Via Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports, tight end Tyler Warren received a prank call when the Jets were on the clock with the seventh overall pick, on Thursday night. (Warren was eventually picked by the Colts, at No. 14.)
Per the report, Warren’s camp believes that the call came from the same area code or number that was used to prank-call Sanders the next day.
As PFT first reported earlier today, the NFL is looking into the prank call made to Shedeur Sanders. If these phones are sent straight to the players by the league and if only the league and the teams have the numbers, someone is doing something that makes the NFL look very bad.
The Jets used the 110th overall pick on Georgia wide receiver Arian Smith.
Smith ran a 4.36 in the 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine and ran on the track team for two seasons. But Smith had 10 drops last season at Georgia, which is why he didn’t go higher.
Still, Jon Gruden listed Smith as one of his sleepers in the draft after Smith led the Bulldogs with 817 yards receiving in 2024. Smith averaged 17 yards on his 48 catches.
The Jets had a need for receiver help opposite Garrett Wilson after Davante Adams’ departure. They have Allen Lazard, Tyler Johnson, Josh Reynolds, Xavier Gipson and Malachi Corely as other options.
