What the Pittsburgh Steelers will do at quarterback is a decision that will define their offseason and direction going forward, as the team can choose between Russell Wilson, Justin Fields or an outside veteran to lead the team in 2025 and potentially beyond. None of those options are super exciting though, and Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation has been a problem over the past few years.
Wilson was supposed to be the answer this year but faded down the stretch, while Kenny Pickett struggled during his tenure in Pittsburgh. Former NFL linebacker Kirk Morrison said on Pro Bowl Live on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Saturday that the Steelers’ quarterback woes go back to the way the team handled Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement and didn’t have a quarterback ready to take over the reins.
“My only thing is that with the Steelers, are you doing the one-year rental or are you looking toward the future? I’ve said this before, I thought they mismanaged the Ben Roethlisberger retirement and the succession plan. I think they didn’t have a quarterback-in-waiting, or they mishit on Kenny Pickett. And that sets your franchise back a couple years.”
The Steelers invested on pieces to try and keep the team competitive during the final years of Roethlisberger’s tenure, with a first-round pick spent on RB Najee Harris and the team selecting WR Chase Claypool and TE Pat Freiermuth in the second round. The only quarterback Pittsburgh took early was Mason Rudolph in the third round in 2018, and it was clear that Rudolph wasn’t ready to take over the reins as the starting quarterback when Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season.
In hindsight, not having a better solution at quarterback has become a major issue for the Steelers, but Roethlisberger and the fanbase wouldn’t have been happy if Pittsburgh took a quarterback early in the draft just to sit behind Roethlisberger. The Steelers wanted to prioritize winning in his final years, and while the postseason success didn’t come, it wasn’t a strategy that many had a big issue with at the time.
The bigger problem was Pittsburgh whiffing on Pickett in the first round in 2022. Largely because they didn’t have a great succession plan, the team had to take a quarterback early in what was a weak quarterback draft class, and Pickett was the choice. He spent two years with the Steelers before being traded to the Eagles, and the Steelers now essentially will have to reset at the position after Wilson didn’t do a lot to prove his worth down the stretch. At just 25 years old, Justin Fields could wind up being a solution, but Fields hasn’t shown the ability to consistently win as a starter in the league, even though he did look good in his six starts last season.
But it’s not a great spot to be in at quarterback, and the Steelers’ draft strategy and the way they handled the roster in Roethlisberger’s final years certainly deserves some blame. If the Steelers had won in the postseason those years, it wouldn’t be viewed as the issue though. The team drafting to win now and then just making the playoffs and getting bounced early proves that their strategy didn’t work, and it’s led to some of the issues facing the team now at quarterback.
Now, the Steelers have a big decision to make on the future of their franchise, and without many enticing options at quarterback, the team may not find their long-term solution just yet.
