The Steelers are now in their offseason after failing to reach the playoffs in 2022, coming up just a game short of sneaking in as the seventh seed. They needed help in week 18 and only got some of it, so instead they sat home and watched the playoffs with the rest of us.
On tap is figuring out how to be on the field in January and February instead of being a spectator. They started out 2-6, digging a hole that proved too deep to dig out of even if they managed to go 7-2 in the second half of the year.
Starting from the end of the regular season and leading all the way up to the beginning of the 2023 season, there are plenty of questions that need answered, starting with who will be the offensive coordinator. Which free agents will be kept? Who might be let go due to their salary? How might they tackle free agency with this new front office? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout this offseason, as we have for many years.
Question: How will the Steelers address the third quarterback position this offseason?
The Steelers entered the 2022 NFL Draft with only two quarterbacks on the roster, slightly uncommon for them. Though influenced by the fact that they were also searching for a new franchise piece, it ended with them drafting two quarterbacks.
While that’s not going to happen this year, however, one must wonder if they might use a draft pick on a quarterback to fill up their depth chart—certainly something they’ve done before. Both Landry Jones and Joshua Dobbs were drafted initially as third quarterbacks with aspirations to be the backup. Mason Rudolph was drafted because of the team’s belief that he could be more than that.
They don’t need either a starter or a backup, at least for the 2023 season, with Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky, though there’s a reasonable chance Trubisky will be looking to part company after this season. So they may be in the market for a developmental quarterback who can ascend the depth chart within a year’s time.
With the number of holes on the roster and the scarcity of draft picks, Steelers fans might balk at the proposition of using one of them on the position, though if they fail to add a veteran free agent, there would obviously be an open roster spot, so it should go down better than the selection of Chris Oladokun a year ago.
The veteran quarterback market, though, is drying up, and they’re not going to want to pay much for a third arm when they’re giving $8 million to Trubisky, so I wouldn’t anticipate a Teddy Bridgewater-type move. Perhaps a Blaine Gabbert or Trevor Siemian—or perhaps even Dobbs can work his way back here. That might be the cleanest answer.
