Rest of preseason wiped out for Steelers, NFL

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Rest of preseason wiped out for Steelers, NFL

Chris Adamski | Tuesday, July 21, 2020 8:09 p.m.

Drew Brees’ New Orleans Saints were scheduled to play a preseason game at Heinz Field next month. But, like the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason schedule, it is expected to be called off with word that the NFL is abandoning its entire 2020 preseason schedule out of concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.

It’s official: No Tom Brady in Pittsburgh in 2020. No Drew Brees, either.

No Pittsburgh Steelers late-summer trip to the shadow of the Big Apple. And no installment in the annual preseason “rivalry” with the Carolina Panthers.

In fact, no August football at all this year.

The 2020 NFL preseason was canceled, according to an NFL Network report. A message posted on the verified Twitter account of NFL reporter Tom Pelissero provided information that was passed along from the NFLPA leadership to its members Tuesday evening. “No preseason games in 2020” was the first item mentioned.

Updates from NFLPA call with players tonight:

- No preseason games in 2020- Union still pushing for longer ramp-up period in camp- Roster sizes expected to be 80 to start camp- General agreement on voluntary and high-risk opt-out- General agreement on stipend if games lost

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 21, 2020

That wipes out home preseason games against Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Brees’ New Orleans Saints. The 40-something future Hall of Fame quarterbacks were scheduled to accompany their teams (though, in all likelihood, not play) for games Aug. 14 (Tampa Bay) and Aug. 23 (New Orleans).

The Buccaneers game would have been the first since they signed Brady as a free agent in March.

Steelers road preseason games called off were Aug. 28 at the New York Jets and Sept. 3 at Carolina. For more than a decade, the Steelers have ended every preseason with a Thursday night game against the Panthers.

The union long had opposed playing any preseason games. The league initially cut the schedule from four full weeks of games to two. (An opening week featuring the Hall of Fame Game between the Steelers and Dallas Cowboys was postponed to 2021).

Also of note in the NFL Network report was training-camp roster sizes are “expected” to be reduced from the normal 90 to 80.

All of the departures from normal, of course, are a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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