The Pittsburgh Steelers completely turned over their quarterback room this offseason, signing Russell Wilson and Kyle Allen as free agents and trading for Justin Fields from the Chicago Bears. But even with three quarterbacks on the roster, all of whom have solid NFL experience, the Steelers aren’t done. Aditi Kinkhabwala told The PM Team of Andrew Filliponi and Chris Mueller on 93.7 The Fan today that the Steelers are looking at quarterbacks in the draft.
“The Steelers are not done at the quarterback position, obviously. I think they’re doing a fair amount of due diligence,” Kinkhabwala said. “Their quarterbacks coach has been doing a fair amount of due diligence on guys that out there and what all is there,” she added.
She was asked by Filliponi whether it was the Bo Nix/Michael Penix Jr. range, and she answered “maybe after that,” signifying that Pittsburgh’s interest is more within the middle-late round quarterbacks. The Steelers planned on bringing four quarterbacks to camp, so the organization has traditionally done, and we did see Tom Arth, Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks coach, at South Alabama’s Pro Day scouting QB Carter Bradley. Bradley is a likely late-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, and the Steelers could potentially be looking to target a fourth arm with one of their sixth-round picks.
It’s not terribly surprising that the Steelers are looking at another quarterback, but spending a draft pick on the position would honestly be a surprise, given that the Steelers already have three established quarterbacks. While Fields and Allen will likely come off the bench, both have started in the past and should make for fine backup options at quarterback that you can feel comfortable enough with if Wilson gets hurt or struggles. With the amount of holes that the Steelers currently have, drafting a quarterback, even late, likely wouldn’t be a popular move.
The Steelers didn’t draft a quarterback last year, opting to instead sign Minnesota QB Tanner Morgan as an undrafted free agent. In 2022, the team drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round and QB Chris Oladokun in the seventh round. Oladokun got cut after failing to log a preseason snap, while Pickett was traded away this offseason. It’s conceivable enough to think that the Steelers could draft a late-round quarterback and potentially have them compete with Allen and try to develop, especially since Wilson will turn 36 this season, and they’ve done some work on quarterback prospects.
But it might not be the best move for the Steelers to draft a quarterback with the number of holes they have and the ability to add depth elsewhere, but it’s interesting to hear that they’re continuing to look at the position and find any avenues to improve their room.
