Football Night in America averaged 8.8 million viewers in the 2025 season – the show’s best number in 20 years on air. It was a 14% rise from the year before, and veteran broadcaster Chris Simms was part of that historic set. However, according to the latest reports, he is not going to be back on the show next season.

“Chris Simms announced this morning that he is out at Football Night in America. A source at NBC Sports confirms,” Sports Business Journal’s Richard Deitsch reported on X. “Obviously, NBC has changed up its NFL pregame show with the addition of Mike Tomlin.”

Simms joined NBC on a part-time basis in 2017 and then became a regular feature in 2019. Prior to his time with NBC, Simms had a podcast with Adam Lefkoe on Bleacher Report. The duo’s podcast saw some high-profile guests like Patrick Mahomes and Greg Olsen.

Simms’ father, Phil, also got into broadcasting after playing in the NFL. The Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants was part of the CBS show NFL Today until 2024.

This decision for Simms comes after NBC made Mike Tomlin’s hire official on April 26. The former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers will now work the show from preseason through the postseason. The reason behind it, as outlined by NBC executive producer Sam Flood, was pretty straightforward.

“When Mike Tomlin talks, people listen. He’s one of the most iconic and respected coaches and voices in the NFL,” Flood said. “We’re excited that this Super Bowl-winning coach is coming straight from the sideline to Football Night in America. His perspective and passion for the game will add an authentic new voice to NFL Sundays.”

Simms wasn’t the first to walk away from the show either. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported in February that contracts for multiple studio panelists – Simms, Devin McCourty, Jason Garrett, and Rodney Harrison – all expired following Super Bowl LX. Tony Dungy was already out, ending a 17-year run on the show.

NBC is also reportedly planning to take the show on the road every week for the 2026 season, moving away from its Stamford studio setup. That move alone would shrink the panel considerably.

The show he just joined will spend every Sunday breaking down the league he left. That includes the Steelers, and that also includes wherever veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers ends up next. And those conversations have already started.

Mike Tomlin on Pittsburgh and Aaron Rodgers’ future

Mike Tomlin’s NBC debut doubled as his first public interview since resigning from the Steelers’ head coaching role. Tomlin sat down with Maria Taylor, who hosts both NBA Showtime and Football Night in America for NBC, and was direct about why he left.

“There’s a loneliness with leadership,” Tomlin said. “I just thought it was a good time for me, personally. And by that, I mean just where I am in life. And I thought it was a good time for the organization, to be quite honest with you.”

When the Steelers were struggling last season, there was even a point when Pittsburgh erupted with “Fire Tomlin” chants, disgruntled with years of playoff heartbreaks. The Steelers, as per reports, had no intention of firing him, and it was his own decision to hang up the headset and walk away. Mike McCarthy came in as the new head coach for the Steelers, and Tomlin believes that a change was needed.

“We didn’t have a lot of success in the playoffs in recent years,” Tomlin continued. “And there’s just some veteran players there – guys like Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt and [Chris] Boswell – that I just thought just those were worthy of the excitement and the optimism associated with new leadership.”

Taylor also asked Tomlin who he thinks starts at quarterback for the Steelers in 2026. Despite the front office and ownership’s strong votes of confidence, Rodgers still hasn’t signed with the Steelers this offseason. Pittsburgh was hoping for a decision before the draft, but that never arrived. Still, Tomlin didn’t hedge.

“Man, if you got a gun to my head, I’d say it’s AR,” Tomlin said. “Aaron, I just think being around him for the 12 months that I’m around him, he’s got a love affair with the game of football. And not only the game, but the process, the informal moments, the development of younger guys, the interaction with teammates. I think he has an addiction to that, and there’s only one way to feed it. And certainly he is still capable, and in really good shape. And so I think at the end of the day, he’ll play football.”

Rodgers had kept the Steelers waiting until June last offseason. Mike Tomlin stayed in Rodgers’ corner and maintained that he will sign. Once the deal finally went through, Rodgers revealed that he had signed specifically to play for Tomlin. The Steelers have kept that same approach this offseason, believing the fit with coach McCarthy – who shaped Rodgers’ Green Bay Packers dominance days – would be appealing for the 42-year-old quarterback to suit up again.

What’s left unresolved – and what Mike Tomlin now watches from a desk instead of a sideline – is whether the franchise he handed off can actually build something better. New leadership is what he said Heyward, Watt, and Boswell deserved. They have it, but whether that translates to January football is something that we will have to wait and see.