The Pittsburgh Steelers overhauled their quarterback room in the span of one week this offseason. First, they signed Russell Wilson. Then they traded Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles before trading for Justin Fields. However, it all could have gone differently. There were two names that the Steelers considered that did not end up happening: Ryan Tannehill and Kirk Cousins.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor wrote about the team’s QB makeover on ESPN.com on Friday, and she dropped some interesting nuggets about how things could have gone differently.
“The Steelers also considered reuniting Tannehill with his former offensive coordinator [Arthur] Smith, per a team source,” Pryor wrote. “And gave a cursory look at Kirk Cousins before quickly deciding signing him was out of their price range.”
When the Steelers hired Smith as their new offensive coordinator this offseason, it was easy to connect the dots to Tannehill. Smith was Tannehill’s offensive coordinator for 2019 and 2020 with the Tennessee Titans, and those years turned Tannehill’s career around. He was decent in Miami but failed to live up to expectations as a first-round pick.
So when the Steelers discussed the need to bring in competition for Pickett, Tannehill became the go-to name. Not only did he have experience in Smith’s system, he was successful. He was the name that most people referenced when talking about what Smith can do with a quarterback.
Cousins did not have had the same level of connection to anyone in the Steelers organization. What he did offer was high-level quarterback play sustained for a number of seasons. He also brought an injury recovery and a hefty price tag, the latter of which was apparently the deciding factor for the Steelers.
What Pryor’s report confirms is that general manager Omar Khan wanted to bring in quarterbacks this offseason and was willing to look everywhere. He certainly succeeded in bringing in talent with Wilson and Fields.
