The Matthew Stafford connection with the Pittsburgh Steelers heated up suddenly on Monday, with GM Omar Khan addressing it yesterday. He didn’t offer much, predictably, at least beyond issuing a warning. Reports indicated the Steelers had shown interest in Stafford, who has permission from the Rams to explore his market.
“I’m not gonna comment on specific players or things that are out there. One thing I’ve learned is that there’s a lot of fake news out there”, Khan said at the podium at the NFL Scouting Combine when addressing rumors of the Steelers’ interest in Stafford. “That’s just part of what we do, but there’s a lot of fake news out there. But I’ll say that all options are on the table until we address our quarterback position”.
It is silly season, after all, where we are likely to hear simultaneous contradictory “reports” on a regular basis. The Steelers love both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, apparently, and are also likely to sign an outside quarterback. Why not let that quarterback be Matthew Stafford?
After all, around this time a year ago, Khan declared “full faith” in Kenny Pickett. A few weeks later they had Russell Wilson. Now that the Steelers have full faith in Wilson and Justin Fields, so why not Stafford? The difference, or one of them, is that the Rams aren’t actively shopping him.
But since the Steelers don’t have anybody under contract right now, they can’t slam the Stafford door shut—especially publicly. After all, why would you want to tell the representatives of Wilson and Fields that it’s just a two-horse race? Why not say if you’re not willing to sign for X, we can find someone better and go all in?
“We don’t have one of our guys under contract, so I owe it to everyone to keep all options on the table”, Khan told our Joe Clark when asked about whether the Steelers had contacted Matthew Stafford’s camp during his talk with local media. “I’m not gonna say that that’s accurate or not, but all options are on the table”.
For what it’s worth, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Steelers had not spoken with Stafford. At least, he is not aware of them having communicated with Stafford’s camp. Maybe they haven’t yet, or maybe they have talked with the Rams instead. Or maybe they haven’t done anything at all and nothing means anything anymore.
So what are we to make of Khan’s warning about fake news when asked about the Steelers’ interest in Matthew Stafford? Does that in any way indicate that they are not seriously exploring trading for him? Is he saying that because they are interested and want to try to cover it up? While they don’t want Wilson and Fields comfortable, they also don’t want to publicize external flirtations. So basically, who the **** knows.
