Uncharted waters certainly are chopping and filled with fear of the unknown.
That’s exactly where the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves for the first time in 18 years without Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, not to mention another nearly 20 players hitting the open market in free agency. Change is coming, and sometimes that can be a good thing.
In this case for the Steelers, change should be viewed with as a welcome, considering it feels as though the Steelers have become relatively stagnant over the last few years under Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert. Though Tomlin and Colbert remain in the picture — though Colbert is expected to retire following the 2022 NFL Draft — change is coming in bunches this offseason for the black and gold, good or bad.
Knowing that, ESPN’s Field Yates listed the Steelers as his choice for the most interesting NFL team of the offseason in Friday’s ESPN+ Insider article in which ESPN asked 12 of its ESPN NFL insiders to make their picks for 2022 MVP, along with the most interesting team of the offseason.
The panel, which included Yates, Dan Graziano, Stephania Bell, Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Tristan H. Cockroft, Eric Moody, Jason Reid, Jordan Reid, Kevin Seifert, Mike Tannenbaum and Seth Walder, had some interesting selections for MVP, with many leaning heavily into the Josh Allen-Bills hype train.
As for most interesting team in the offseason, much of the panel highlighted the Green Bay Packers due to the Aaron Rodgers situation, as well as Denver Broncos (a potential Rodgers landing spot) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (post-Tom Brady). However, Yates was the lone panelist to select the Steelers as his most interesting team of the offseason.
“Steelers. For the first time in nearly two decades, the Steelers will need a new starting quarterback,” Yates writes. “In what seems like an offseason that could include some notable veteran trades, does Pittsburgh approach the position that way or work to draft its successor to Ben Roethlisberger?”
Of course, it always comes back to the quarterback position. In this case though, it certainly makes for an interesting offseason for the Steelers, especially from the national media’s perspective, because it’s the first time in nearly two decades they’ve been in this situation, so they’re essentially the shiny new toy in the QB market.
Add in the fact that they have some cap space to work with in free agency, the Steelers could — potentially — retool quickly and quietly and fight their way back into contention, assuming that’s what Colbert, Tomlin and the rest of the front office and ownership are aiming for in 2022.
