The Pittsburgh Steelers remain interested in bringing back quarterback Mason Rudolph, who is due to hit free agency next week. The Steelers are still committed to giving Kenny Pickett a chance to start, and Rudolph is the ideal option to come in and compete with Pickett. However, despite Rudolph’s performance in 2023 — he had 719 yards and three touchdowns without an interception and went 3-0 in the regular season and then threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s Wild Card Round playoff loss — the Steelers aren’t going to roll out the Brink’s truck for Rudolph.
In Gerry Dulac’s weekly chat for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a reader asked if a two-year, $10 million contract would work.
“That’s about the price range the Steelers will offer, no more,” Dulac wrote in response. That would be a nice pay bump for Rudolph, who made just a little bit over $1 million on the one-year contract he signed with the Steelers ahead of the 2023 season.
Obviously, NFL contracts aren’t just as granular as the APY, and Pittsburgh could find a way to boost the value with incentives and potentially lower some of the guaranteed money as part of the deal. If Rudolph doesn’t win the job, the Steelers may want to make it easy to get out of after one season, but it does make sense that the general value could be around $5 million per season in some form or fashion. Rudolph looked good when he played last season, but he’s entering his sixth NFL season so there isn’t a ton of mystery around him. The Steelers have seen what he can do, both good and bad, and while he played the best football of his career last season, I think that’s probably the best version of Mason Rudolph there is.
And don’t get me wrong, that version of Mason Rudolph proved he can move the ball on offense and win football games. It’s not a knock against him, but the fact that Rudolph isn’t much of a mystery probably puts a ceiling on his value. He had limited free-agent interest last offseason before coming back to Pittsburgh, and there just aren’t enough teams with needs at quarterback to make it a players’ market.
For the Steelers, they’ll have options if Rudolph doesn’t re-sign or commands more than they’re willing to pay. With names like Ryan Tannehill, who had success with Arthur Smith in Tennessee, on the market, the Steelers will have options at their preferred price range. And in a week or so, we’ll figure out who the Steelers do actually add to their quarterback room and can finally stop speculating about the position.
