QB Mason Rudolph may be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ only free agent of interest, but that doesn’t make him very interesting. The fact of the matter is that he doesn’t even crack the majority of free agent lists you’ll see. Everyone’s favorite outlet, Pro Football Focus, did not include him on its list of the top 150 free agents.
Yet a number of Steelers fans in particular anticipate quite a windfall for the seventh-year veteran. Not just fans but certain media personalities, largely those on the radio. Some believe Rudolph will fetch $10 million per year or more while others laugh at the idea.
I don’t quite know his sense of humor, but Gerry Dulac certainly doesn’t seem to think Rudolph falls in that range. He cautioned one Rudolph fan in his latest chat session for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that “there is not going to be a bidding war for his services or that he’s going to receive some type of outlandish deal”.
This is the latest in a string of local media members predicting a lukewarm reception on the open market. Ray Fittipaldo questioned the idea of Rudolph as a hot commodity a month ago. Mark Kaboly said the idea of him getting a fresh start elsewhere is “just totally not true”. Brooke Pryor said that anywhere he goes, nobody is going to anoint him.
The first thing to consider is the available quarterback market. The list includes big, beefy names like Kirk Cousins and Ryan Tannehill. You also have Jacoby Brissett, Tyrod Taylor, Marcus Mariota, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Drew Lock, on and on. Even Mitch Trubisky is in that group after the Steelers cut him after benching him for Rudolph.
Joe Flacco, Joshua Dobbs, Carson Wentz, Tyler Huntley, Gardner Minshew II, Jameis Winston, Brandon Allen, Kyle Allen, Trevor Siemian, Will Grier. You get the point, I hope. There are a lot of names out there. Teams will re-sign some of them—like Mayfield—but many of them, among others, enter the market free-for-all next month.
And where does Rudolph fit in all of that, at least from an outside perspective? How many quarterback holes are there? How many teams believe Rudolph even possesses starting ability? Do any of them believe in him more than the Steelers?
Odds are he’s not going to get $10 million per year, let alone $15 million. He may not get $5 million per year. Mariota earned $5 million from his contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Winston earned $4 million, Lock the same, Minshew $3.5 million, Dobbs $2 million.
Steelers fans who want the team to keep Rudolph should rejoice at this news. Odds are, they’re unlikely to find another team outbidding them for his services. The question is where he feels he has the best chance to play. And the answer to that question could be Pittsburgh as well. Time will tell, but if you’re a Steelers fan and a Rudolph fan, don’t despair just yet.
