The Pittsburgh Steelers are most of the way through the first part of the offseason leading to the draft. Before we get there, we’re going to take stock of how the roster has evolved over the past several weeks. Position by position, we’ll break down who’s coming and going and what’s next for those rookies and those already here.
Position: Quarterback
Total Positional Figure: 3
Offseason Additions: 3
Offseason Deletions: 2
Players Retained: N/A
Players Added:
Russell Wilson: First off, I’ve literally never written “N/A” in the Players Retained section of any of these articles before. I’ve been doing this for over a decade, and I’ve never seen a complete room turnover, which is still stunning.
But the circumstances of the offseason provided the opportunity. Russell Wilson may not be his old self, but getting him for $1.2 million is a risk worth taking. At the very least, he is highly likely to offer an upgrade at the quarterback position.
Justin Fields: After Kenny Pickett requested a trade, the Steelers finally got serious about Justin Fields. Surprisingly, the Bears moved him for just a conditional future sixth-round pick. The conversation was always that his trade value would be so great that one would feel obligated to pick up his fifth-year option, which is a virtual non-starter. But they managed to avoid that scenario, so now they can play it by ear without pressure.
Kyle Allen: The Steelers may also have managed to completely take quarterback off the table for the draft by adding Kyle Allen. He is an experienced veteran backup and a fine emergency quarterback. Having him on the roster prevents them from needing to consider drafting a third arm.
Players Deleted:
Kenny Pickett: Well, I can’t say I expected to include Pickett’s name in this section going into his third season. But the former Steelers first-round pick is now a Philadelphia Eagle, backing up Jalen Hurts. While he possessed some “intangibles” that led to a good record, Pickett’s numbers were basically always bad. Yet reportedly the Steelers only traded him after his attitude soured following the Wilson signing. He ended up requesting the trade himself, but they seemed willing enough to oblige at that point.
Mason Rudolph: Literally the greatest player in NFL history, Mason Rudolph continues to be the most unfortunate man alive. If the Steelers had any kind of brain, they would have signed him to a 10-year, $1,000,000,000 contract.
Now, he gets to back up a man who puts mayonnaise in his coffee.
Notes And Draft Outlook:
You’ll note that Mitch Trubisky isn’t listed, but this is because I accounted for his release in our last update. Since then, this is what’s happened, and, well, it’s still quite a bit. In fact, I find it hard to believe the Steelers are going to do anything else at this point.
They are extremely unlikely to draft a quarterback this year, even if the Steelers did bring in Michael Penix Jr. They even added a third quarterback in Kyle Allen to eliminate the need. Most likely, they will sign a college free agent or invite one to minicamp.
The only question after that is if Russell Wilson is the uncontested starter or if they give Justin Fields a whirl. Then, after that, of course, the question is whether whoever is starting is any good and can win in the playoffs.
