As the Pittsburgh Steelers begin their offseason following a 31-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, head coach Mike Tomlin and the rest of the team leadership will begin the process of gathering information. They need to be able to make the most informed decisions in terms of roster construction and the first part of that is conducting exit interviews with coaches and players.
The quarterback position is one that will be talked about in Pittsburgh extensively this offseason with three different quarterbacks starting games in 2023 and more questions than answers. QB Kenny Pickett will be entering his third season as a former first-round pick and hasn’t decisively taken control of the future of the position, so that will be among the top priorities.
Tomlin was available for a Thursday press conference to wrap the season and answer questions from the media. The conference is available on the team’s YouTube page.
He was asked about the quarterback competition for next season. He said Pickett will get the chance to be the starter again, but “certainly, he will be challenged from a competition perspective.”
As a follow up he was then asked if it was the hope of the franchise that Rudolph would be back in Pittsburgh.
“It is,” Tomlin said. “But he is a free agent, and it is free agency, and so we’ll see where that leads us.”
Rudolph started the final three regular-season games of the season and won all three to get the Steelers into the playoffs. Tomlin rode the hot hand of Rudolph into the playoffs, and Rudolph ultimately lost his first postseason start.
Regardless of the playoff performance, Rudolph likely earned himself some money as he is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency. If the Steelers do not view him as the starter, it could be difficult to justify a large price tag if there ends up being a market for him this time around. Last season, he unexpectedly circled back to the Steelers because there was no market for him. Tomlin followed up with some additional praise for Rudolph.
“I don’t think any of us can deny what we’ve seen over the last month or so,” Tomlin said. “I cannot underscore how impressive it is to be ready. Forget performance man, [just] to be ready to deliver. And he was, and that preparedness showed. So certainly we are less speculative about his capabilities because there’s evidence of it.”
Over the final three games of the regular season, plus the one drive where he participated against the Indianapolis Colts the week prior, he completed 55-of-74 passes for 719 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He led the offense to back-to-back performances of 30 points or more and delivered in must-win games three weeks in a row. In the playoffs, he ended with 22 completions on 39 attempts for 229 yards, two touchdowns, and his lone interception of the season.
Whoever starts will be getting a new offensive coordinator to work with, and Tomlin confirmed that he will be going outside the organization for that position for the first time in three hiring cycles.
