The Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback situation has been a hot topic this offseason. To be fair, the team felt confident they had a franchise guy in Kenny Pickett until Mason Rudolph showed up the last three games of the 2023 regular season and blew Pickett’s stats out of the water. Now this leaves the team figuring out what to do with Rudolph. Will they try to keep him and will he want to stay? On top of that, how much will that cost?
Local media has been in a frenzy writing about all of the variables regarding Pickett and Rudolph, but none have been as busy as Gerry Dulac from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Dulac’s very popular weekly “chat column” is chock full of questions about whether or not Pickett should start, keeping/paying Rudolph, and possible free agent signings.
Steelers’ Likely Options For Life After Mason Rudolph
Dulac has been adamant that he believes the team plans to stand by Pickett and allow him this third year. It is reasonable to factor in the fact that Pickett’s development might have been hindered by the organization keeping former Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada far too long. On top of that, many quarterbacks take a few years to adjust to the NFL.
In his most recent column, Dulac doubled down on Pickett being “him” in 2024 saying that “it’s his job to lose.” But losing it is certainly a possibility. He lost it at the end of the 2023 season when Head Coach Mike Tomlin chose not to play a healthy Pickett in favor of the third-string quarterback that was winning games. Dulac has also said that he believes the team will try to keep Rudolph, but not at the cost of a bidding war with other teams. But what happens if that isn’t possible? What route will the team take? A fan wrote in to ask if the team would consider Gardner Minshew.
“You know, he wouldn’t be a bad No. 2 if Rudolph goes elsewhere,” wrote Dulac.
Minshew, who is with the Indianapolis Colts, is hardly the only name getting thrown around. The Steelers have been linked to a ton of veteran quarterbacks such as Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, and Ryan Tannehill. The player that has been brought up the most, however, is Justin Fields. Dulac said that he does not believe that Fields is willing to go anywhere as a second-string guy. He is going to be looking for a job as a guaranteed starter, and Pittsburgh is not looking for a starter. On top of all of that, Fields has said he desires to stay with the Chicago Bears.
Another fan wrote in and asked Dulac if Rudolph does move on from the Steelers, does he expect the organization to just go after a cheap veteran quarterback and hope they find a diamond in the rough in the draft?
“That is the likely scenario. I think they will try to sign, a Mitch Trubisky-type, whether that’s Ryan Tannehill, Marcus Mariota, Drew Lock, maybe even Gardner Minshew. It will be someone who understands and accepts they are No. 2. And then I think they draft a QB around the fifth or sixth round. If Mason stays, then maybe they sign a low-level free agent QB to be No. 3. Maybe.”
Well, it will have to be very much “around” the fifth round since the Steelers do not have a fifth-round pick in 2024. They do, however, have two back-to-back fourth-round picks, 119 and 120. That fifth-round pick went to the Los Angeles Rams along with Kevin Dotson.
The names that are being linked to the Steelers make sense to some degree. For example, Tannehill played for the Steelers’ new Offensive Coordinator, Arthur Smith, when they were both with the Tennessee Titans. Minshew shocked the league when he performed well enough while playing for an injured Anthony Richardson that he was selected to a Pro Bowl for the first time in his career. Cousins, who is coming off an injury might be looking to extend his career.
It appears that we will not have any real answers until action is taken regarding Rudolph. The free agency window will be opening soon and you can bet his agent will be talking him up to every coach and GM in the league. It is not every day that a player, who was once considered mediocre, saves a season the way Rudolph did.
