The Pittsburgh Steelers ended the 2024 season on a five-game losing streak, culminating in another unceremonious playoff exit. After jumping out to a 10-3 start, they lost their final four regular-season games. Having lost out on the division title, they visited the Ravens in the Wild Card Round and were promptly put in their place.
The denouement was so final and clear that even Steelers president Art Rooney II came away dispirited. Speaking to reporters recently, he conceded that they cannot in good conscience say they’re closer to winning in the playoffs than they were a year ago.
And that was the whole point of last offseason, moving the needle just enough to tip the scale. The Steelers already mastered squeaking into the postseason and then promptly exiting. This past season, they were supposed to get in and at least win a game. Is reality setting in that this is going to take longer than they anticipated?
“Art Rooney kind of alluded to this yesterday when he said the Steelers aren’t closer to winning a playoff game this year than they were last year”, Ray Fittipaldo said on the North Shore Drive podcast recently. “I think we’re probably in the very beginning stages of a multi-year rebuild. You don’t have your franchise quarterback. Your o-line and your defense are lacking. You’ve got to build that back up. You need receiver help”.
The biggest hurdle, as Rooney acknowledged, is the lack of an obvious answer at quarterback. Reading between the lines, he basically admitted that they have no good solution available this offseason. The Steelers can only settle for their preferred re-run from last year—either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields.
But most also agree that the Steelers are not just a quarterback away from contention. A franchise quarterback—should one climb out of a pierogi—could perhaps win them a playoff game. But they still need to fine-tune that offensive line, replenish the defensive line, restock the secondary and wide receiver rooms, and supplement the running back room.
Given his argument that the Steelers are in a multi-year rebuilding process, Fittipaldo advocated working inside out. Rather than trying to find their franchise quarterback now—or rather than forcing the issue — turn to other areas. The trenches come first, and to be fair, the Steelers have been investing there. Over the past two drafts, they have devoted four first- and second-round picks to those areas.
But Rooney also basically admitted that they screwed up at wide receiver, too. When Calvin Austin III with 548 yards is your second-leading wide receiver, you did something wrong. The Steelers traded Diontae Johnson, which is well enough on its own, but they never replenished their resources. Now they have to work on that, among several other areas, this year and likely the next few. That’s assuming they even retain George Pickens.
