The Pittsburgh Steelers have had postseason success, but only when they’ve had consistent quarterback play. For most of the past decade, they haven’t had that. Now, with both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields hitting the open market in March, they’ve got even more uncertainty. Aside from those two, free agents like Aaron Rodgers and Sam Darnold remain options. Some have even floated the idea of trading for Matthew Stafford.
Whatever the Steelers do, The Athletic’s Robert Mays believes Pittsburgh needs to be aggressive, if nothing else.
“By making these kind of smaller, marginal bets, they never really go that far,” Mays said of the Steelers, via the Up and Adams show. “I think they need to do something that feels a little more aggressive, and a little more drastic, to try to get the most out of this version of the roster. You have to do enough at quarterback to try to maximize this for one last run.”
Mays alludes to the fact that the Steelers roster is getting older, and he’s not wrong. The Steelers have been playoff contenders for so long because they’ve had consistency from their key building blocks. However, as long as the Steelers have been relevant behind their key players, they’ve started to age. It’s not unrealistic to think that their current roster might only have a couple more years left in their window to contend.
With that in mind, trading for Stafford would be more aggressive than the Steelers have been in recent years. Last offseason, they brought in Wilson and Fields, two quarterbacks discarded by their former teams. While they had their reasons to do so, neither of those moves show any type of aggressiveness. With that came another 10-7 season with a playoff loss.
Trading for Stafford would be an assertive move, one that shows the Steelers are willing to go out and get their quarterback, instead of letting quarterbacks come to them when the rest of the league doesn’t want them. Yet, there are reasons to be against a possible trade. Stafford isn’t young by any means, and he would only have a couple productive years left, if that. Sure, the Steelers might improve their QB situation now. But if the argument for that is because of the aging roster, does a 37-year old quarterback make the most sense?
Mays thinks so.
“That to me feels like the best pairing,” Mays said. “If he’s gonna move on, if the Rams are gonna move on. I think Matthew Stafford, even at this stage in his career, would be a worthwhile swing for a team that’s in the position the Steelers are in.”
While there have been reports suggesting Stafford’s more likely to stay in Los Angeles, his wife did mention that they aren’t afraid of a potential trade. With free agency just under a month away, all of this will soon start to figure itself out. For now, there will likely be more chatter in the future regarding Stafford, until the Steelers address their quarterback room.
