The Pittsburgh Steelers and their fan base entered the 2025 NFL season with cautious optimism. It was unknown how an aging Aaron Rodgers would fare in a tough AFC North division, but things have gone incredibly well, as the team is off to a 3-1 start.
To make matters even better for the Steelers, they stand alone at the top of the division, as the Bengals' 2-3 record is the next closest. Cleveland's struggles forced them to bench a familiar face in Joe Flacco, and both Baltimore and Cincinnati are dealing with injuries to their starting quarterbacks.
This spurred an ultra-rare trade on Tuesday afternoon between the Browns and the Bengals, as the former stunningly traded Flacco to the latter. The 18-year veteran quarterback remains in the AFC North, where most of his football has been played, and Steelers fans can only laugh at one realization.
Pittsburgh Steelers remain only AFC North team that hasn't signed Joe Flacco
When Flacco makes his Bengals debut, he will have played for every team in the division except for the Steelers. Of course, he spent most of his career in Baltimore, but recent stops in Cleveland and Cincinnati leave Pittsburgh as the odd man out when it comes to having Flacco under center.
While Flacco deserves his share of respect as a Super Bowl winner and a Super Bowl MVP, his career has obviously fallen off multiple cliffs before. He is dangerous in a bind as a backup, and he still shows glimpses of his prime.
But as a long-term starter, Flacco should not instill fear into the Steelers anymore. In fact, it's quite humorous that yet another AFC North squad is trying its luck with Flacco in hopes of gaining traction in the division.
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Flacco is an even 11-11 in the regular season as a starter while facing Pittsburgh, but he's just 1-2 in the playoffs. Interestingly enough, despite two stints in Cleveland, he never played the Steelers as a member of the Browns.
That should change with the Bengals, however, as they're scheduled to play the Steelers in Week 7 on Thursday Night Football in Cincinnati. Then, the two teams will face off again in Pittsburgh in Week 11 for an early window Sunday game.
It will be interesting for the Steelers to finally see Flacco in an AFC North bout where he is not wearing a Ravens jersey. Pittsburgh, for as many times as he has played there, remains the only place in the division that Flacco has not called home.