This offseason, the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers essentially swapped their quarterbacks in free agency, as Justin Fields inked a two-year, $40 million deal with the Jets and Aaron Rodgers signed a one-year, $13.65 million contract with the Steelers.
Rodgers spent the last two seasons with New York after playing for 18 with the Green Bay Packers before that. However, Rodgers missed all but four snaps in 2023 due to a torn Achilles, and he returned to lead the Jets to a disappointing 5-12, third-place finish in the AFC East.
Now, with his new team, Rodgers will take on New York in the first game of their 2025 campaigns, which will obviously be the first time either quarterback faces the team that was willing to move on from them this offseason.
Jets defensive end Jermaine Johnson recently shared that he's looking forward to matchup with his former teammate.
"Obviously, I'm excited, he's excited," Johnson said Tuesday (via ESPN). "It was a pleasure having him around and stuff like that and I wish him the best, but when I get between those lines, there's no friends.
"I think he knows that, and he feels the same stuff. I'm excited. It's just another game, but for me it's going to be my first game back. There will be a lot of emotions, and when my emotions are high, I tend to play pretty well."
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Johnson missed most of last season with a ruptured Achilles, and he shared that Rodgers actually helped him through the recovery process after the injury, having gone through it just a year prior.
"The first thing he said was, 'You'll be good, you've got a 10-year-plus career. You're all right, chalk it up,'" Johnson said. "It just kind of let me calm down a little bit and be able to gather myself, take it on the chin and handle it, and do a good job at it. So that's how I've attacked it, and Aaron's been a huge help."
While it's clear that's a lot of respect and admiration between the two, when their Week 1 battle kicks off, Johnson's focus will strictly be on trying to take Rodgers down and win the game.
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