The argument for the Pittsburgh Steelers trading for Matthew Stafford is that they are just a quarterback away from competing for a championship. That will be a tough argument to sell to a lot of people, but not ESPN analyst Chris Canty. The former NFL defensive lineman, in fact, made that very argument himself on the Unsportsmanlike program.
“The Pittsburgh Steelers have to be on line one and they should be making Matthew Stafford and the Rams both offers that those parties can’t refuse”, Canty said, agreeing with a fellow host. “They are a team that’s a quarterback away”.
But are they? Many fans and non-fans would dispute that, I think, considering their dire postseason record. We can start with one obvious fact, which is that their defense has repeatedly let them down in big moments. If the Steelers had Matthew Stafford, would he be winning them shootouts?
Now, they only really won one high-scoring game a year ago, late in the season against the Bengals. The story goes that afterward, they discouraged Russell Wilson from changing plays, and some choose to believe that is why everything subsequently fell apart. Even if we accept the premise that the Steelers need just a different quarterback, what makes Stafford that quarterback?
Stafford may be in the Hall of Fame someday, but at 37 years old, he is past his prime. Last season, he threw a touchdown on fewer than four percent of his pass attempts. He did lead the Rams on an 8-2 run to lock up the division late in the year. And his numbers late in the season were better than the first half, but which would the Steelers even get?
Canty and company debated that the Steelers would have to give the Rams their 21st-overall pick and a mid-round pick, while paying Matthew Stafford $46-50 million per year, in order to make a trade happen. Canty was of the position that they should be willing to overspend now. His reasoning, again, was because by doing so, they can buy a championship—but how many would agree?
How many people think slapping Matthew Stafford onto this Steelers roster makes them a title contender? Perhaps the better question is, how much work would they need to do this offseason to become one? But Canty maintains they are “a quarterback away”, so for him, it’s not even about that.
“Pittsburgh can’t be thrifty”, he said. “If Stafford is traded anywhere other than Pittsburgh this offseason, the Steelers are not serious about winning championships”. But whether Stafford would make the Steelers a serious contender to win one is up for debate. And for all we know, he wouldn’t even want to come here, so it may not matter anyway.
