Despite running the treadmill of mediocrity since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement after the 2021 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly not interested in bringing in a veteran starting quarterback this offseason.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio has more on what could be a wild situation to follow in league circles:
Publicly declaring your non-interest in acquiring a veteran quarterback sure is one way to try and create negotiating leverage through the media! Lying Season™️ is here and I am ready for it.
For the sake of this post, let’s take this report at face value. If this is true, then the Steelers will go into the 2024 NFL season with Mason Rudolph (a 2018 third-round pick who has seen the team pass him over for the likes of Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky), Kenny Pickett (who has thrown as many interceptions (13) as he has touchdowns (13) in his two years as a starter), or a possible April draft pick quarterbacking the squad when things kick off in September. That is a pretty wild way to frame the situation, but that is the reality this Pittsburgh franchise would be staring in the face.
On the one hand, Mason Rudolph versus Kenny Pickett versus a draft pick-to-be-named-later would be quite the show at a Steelers camp. But on the other hand, this doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that an organization like Pittsburgh would put its team through. Hence, I feel as if this report is just an elaborate way to create negotiation leverage by using the media. Unlike the NFL, I hand out points for creativity (even if they’re meaningless).
Either way, I’m fascinated by this development — especially because of the potential Bears ramifications. More on that in a moment.
