Over the last five years, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been painfully consistent. They’ve won 10 games twice, nine games twice, and even 12 back in 2020. Unfortunately, all of those years have resulted in a first-round postseason exit. Naturally, fans are fed up, and rightfully so. The lack of results year in and year out even has some fans calling for the Steelers to undergo a full-on rebuild.
Steelers insider Mark Kaboly is leery of that idea, though.
“Getting rid of everything is not the answer,” Kaboly said, via Kaboly + Mack on YouTube. “I can tell you that much. They just have to do better on the end of this, of acquiring talent that can win championships. That’s where you’re at right now. I mean it’s not blowing it up. I can guarantee you it’s not blowing it up.”
If there’s any takeaways about the Steelers’ offseason so far, it’s that the front office seems to agree with Kaboly here. There’s only one change that’s happened on the coaching staff with former inside linebackers coach Aaron Curry leaving for the New York Jets. The head coach and both coordinators are returning. Pittsburgh’s also already expressed interest in bringing back at least one of its quarterbacks from 2024.
From the fan’s point of view, no major changes are happening. So who can blame those fans for being upset with a lack of change after yet another blowout loss in the postseason? While some think blowing it up is the answer, there are plenty of teams around the NFL proving that sometimes the opposite is true. Kaboly gave some examples.
“If that was true, the Cleveland Browns wouldn’t stink this bad for 30 years,” Kaboly said. “The Jacksonville Jaguars wouldn’t stink this bad for 27 of their last 30 years. And the Raiders and everybody else. You’re not getting Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning, those are sure bets. You have to take a chance.”
It’s true, there are plenty of teams that couldn’t complete a rebuild if their lives depended on it. The Browns, Jaguars and Raiders are all examples of that. Just landing a high draft pick doesn’t make a team better. You have to be able to develop and retain that talent, and some teams aren’t capable of doing that. The Steelers are a well-run organization, certainly more so than those three examples. Still, there’s always the chance Pittsburgh falls into a similar hole if it blows things up.
With that said, if the Steelers decided to rebuild, there are road maps to follow. The Houston Texans traded QB Deshaun Watson ahead of the 2022 season, inducing a rebuild. The following year, thanks to some draft-day trades, they landed the second and third overall picks in the 2023 draft. Houston selected QB C.J. Stroud and EDGE Will Anderson Jr. Those two, along with other key additions, have helped the Texans win two division titles in as many years.
There are examples of both successful and unsuccessful rebuilds across the league. If the Steelers chose to rebuild, it would be a major risk. If might pay off, or it might send the organization into a string of losing seasons. Whether that’s better or worse than four wild-card losses in five years is up to the eye of the beholder.
