The Steelers’ 2023 season has been put out of its misery, ending as so many have before in recent years: a disappointing, blowout playoff loss. The only change-up lately is when they miss the playoffs altogether. But with the Buffalo Bills stamping them out in the Wildcard Round, they have another long offseason to look forward to.
The biggest question hanging over the team as we speak is the future of head coach Mike Tomlin. While a firing seems unlikely, speculation has been rampant about his continuing. When asked about his contract status after the loss to the Bills, he walked away mid-question.
Beyond that, there is…the quarterback question. Is Kenny Pickett the guy? Will he get another season’s reprieve without a challenge? How will the team address the depth chart? Do they re-sign Mason Rudolph, one of few significant unrestricted free agents?
The Steelers are swirling with more questions this offseason than usual, frankly, though the major free agent list is less substantial than usual. It’s just a matter of…what happens next? Where do they go from here? How do they find the way forward?
Question: Who will be the opening-day starting quarterback in 2024?
In this era of the NFL, almost incontrovertibly, you can only be as good as your quarterback. The problem for the Pittsburgh Steelers is their quarterbacks don’t seem to be all that good. By and large, they have won when they have as much in spite of their quarterbacks rather than because of them.
Sure, you have the game-winning drives, but you also have the preceding 50 or so minutes of relative futility and more often than not a defense clinging to the edge, desperate to keep the score down with no margin for error.
Kenny Pickett ended the 2023 season listed as the first-team quarterback on the depth chart, but Mason Rudolph started the final four games even when Pickett was healthy. And we know they looked at the depth chart, because Rudolph was moved ahead of Mitch Trubisky.
Yet Rudolph isn’t even under contract for 2024, at least not yet. It will take time to figure out what his market is and how other teams see him. What are the odds that another team will offer him a much more enticing deal? Well, it’s hard to say without knowing what the Steelers would be willing to offer him.
And whether they would be willing to offer him an opportunity to compete or a starting job. Or are they all in on Pickett for another season? Or, perhaps, will they explore other options? I don’t think they’re going to acquire a Justin Fields or a Kirk Cousin, two names that have been wildly floated about, but there are other names out there. There is the draft, as well.
Ultimately, we are only two seasons into Pickett’s career and we’ve only seen the better part of six quarters of what he looks like with no offensive coordinator rather than with Matt Canada as his offensive coordinator. Will they hire a new one who is committed to getting the most out of Pickett?
