The dominant story of the offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers has been what to do at the quarterback position. QB Kenny Pickett is the only one on their roster under contract for the 2024 season prior to free agency and the draft, so GM Omar Khan has his work cut out for him to bring in the competition that the Steelers have said Pickett will have. Every quarterback who is available or even potentially available has been linked to the Steelers at this point. ESPN insider Adam Schefter appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday afternoon and said the team is weighing its options at the position.
“They’re looking, they’re absolutely looking, and I would expect at some point they’re gonna add one of these guys,” Schefter said. “It doesn’t feel like they are in an urgent mode to where, boy, we’re gonna go make this move for Kirk Cousins, on Day 1 of free agency and outspend all these guys. I think that they still absolutely have hopes for Kenny Pickett.”
Again, they need to bring in competition and fill out the roster with backup options at the very least, so the question becomes who are they looking at. Quarterbacks who have been connected to the team range from Day 1 starters, to backups, to a true toss up of competition with Pickett. The latest report from Mike DeFabo of the Athletic stated that the Steelers are not interested in Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, or Kirk Cousins.
Those names represent the top tier of available options and the ones that would be Day 1 starters over Pickett. So, if you are ruling those out, then it comes down to the names that could come in and compete, like Ryan Tannehill or Mason Rudolph if he signs with the Steelers.
“I don’t think they know right now,” Schefter said of how the quarterback situation will shake out. “I think they’re still sorting through it as we speak, but all those decisions are gonna crystallize here over the course of the next week…I haven’t sensed that they were at the Combine going through quarterback meetings round the clock to go get somebody in here to dislodge Kenny Pickett. So I’m not giving you a specific answer ’cause I don’t think right now they have a specific answer.”
We are in speculation season, so while one insider claims they are absolutely looking at all of the available names, another will shut down that notion. It is hard to know what to trust, but team president Art Rooney II, head coach Mike Tomlin, and GM Omar Khan have all expressed belief in Pickett since the season ended. Recently, Arthur Smith and Pickett reportedly met in Florida, and it went “great.”
All signs point to the Steelers attempting to bring back Rudolph or a lower-level free agent like Tannehill rather than making a splash to supplant Pickett. Fortunately, speculation season is nearly over with just a week to go until the legal tampering period of free agency.
