Is it time to blow up the Steelers?
I could deploy the colloquial definition of insanity, because it obviously applies to the Steelers. Every year it’s the same thing, or a variation of it, and so are the results. A one-and-done playoff run, or just barely missing. Anyway between 8-8 and 11-6, whatever is “just enough”. Invited to the dance, but an empty dance card.
So why keep running it back when it’s not working? I know the obvious reply many Steelers fans will give, of course. Art Rooney II and the owners don’t actually care about winning, they just want to sell tickets. The Steelers are no longer a serious football team and are simply in the business of making money.
I don’t buy it. I just think the Steelers aren’t good enough, but not bad enough to start over. Mike Tomlin is too good of a coach to fire, but his team isn’t good enough to win with. Yet he plays an enormous role in putting those teams together, so…
Let’s say the Steelers somehow found the courage to “blow it up”—what would that look like? Let’s try to be realistic and rule out the front office actually firing Tomlin. Tomlin is far more likely to walk away—which he’s not going to do—than receive his walking papers.
The most obvious thing to do would be not re-signing Russell Wilson. The next step for a team blowing up is to sell off resources. But how much could the Steelers get for, say, T.J. Watt, whose value is probably at a low? Nobody is trading for Cameron Heyward, just because of his age. And how much is anybody willing to pay for George Pickens, who did rebound in the postseason?
The Steelers’ top priority has to be solving the quarterback conundrum. They simply don’t have a quarterback that their roster is capable of winning with. It doesn’t help, in my opinion, that the 2025 draft class is weak—and is Sam Darnold the answer? I’m not even going to entertain Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins as plausible pathways to the Super Bowl.
The Steelers’ 2024 season has come to its predictably inauspicious end, with yet another one-and-done postseason for HC Mike Tomlin. The offense faltered, and the defensed matched it blow for blow, leading to a 21-0 first-half deficit.
Just like last year, the biggest question hanging over the Steelers is the quarterback question. Do they still believe in Russell Wilson, and/or Justin Fields, or do they want another solution? There are other major decisions to make, as well, such as what to do with George Pickens. Do you sign him to an extension, try to trade him, or let him play out his rookie contract?
The Steelers started the 2024 season 10-3, with Mike Tomlin in the Coach of the Year conversation. Wash, rinse, and repeat, and we have another late-season collapse. This may be the worst yet, a four-game losing streak presaging a one-and-done playoff “run”. Welcome to Steelers football.
