While the Pittsburgh Steelers are set to trade for stud WR DK Metcalf, it doesn’t ultimately solve their problem. Not only do they lack a franchise quarterback—they don’t even have a starting-capable one. As I write this, there is only one quarterback under contract for 2025 in Skylar Thompson. They will, of course, add a starter very soon, but are any of them the answer to their problem?
For months now, the Steelers have discussed re-signing either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields. They have also left the door open for all options, and perhaps Sam Darnold is one of them. Even if they make that move, though, do Darnold and Metcalf turn the Steelers into a championship offense?
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter, because a fatalistic approach is useless. You don’t second-guess yourself into inactivity, fearing that no matter what you do, it won’t work. The Steelers have games to play, and they need somebody to throw to Metcalf and George Pickens. That is, of course, assuming they don’t turn around and trade Pickens.
The Steelers have lacked a “franchise” quarterback since the days of Ben Roethlisberger, and even then, the timeline is debatable. Perhaps the last point of consensus was, perhaps, 2018, with Roethlisberger suffering a major injury in 2019. He was never quite the same after that. Russell Wilson was the closest thing they have had to one since then, but is that saying much?
Now, if the Steelers acquire DK Metcalf and retain George Pickens, paired with TE Pat Freiermuth and a restocked backfield, they would be giving whoever their quarterback is arguably their best complement of weapons since 2018 at least. At the time, they had both Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster in the Pro Bowl, plus James Conner and others.
But ultimately, it comes down to quarterback play, not wide receiver play. Are any of the options attractive enough to raise hopes of something more than a playoff one-and-done? Steelers fans want to greet the Metcalf news with excitement, but is Justin Fields exciting? Are Sam Darnold or Aaron Rodgers exciting, at least circa 2025?
And on top of that, this isn’t even a good year to need a rookie quarterback. A year after six teams drafted a quarterback in the top 12 picks, we may see only one in 2025. Cam Ward could go first overall, and it wouldn’t be a total shock if another quarterback wasn’t taken until the next day. The farther they fall, of course, the more tempted the Steelers would be to take one, especially perhaps a Jaxson Dart. The way quarterback stocks tend to rise, though, they would probably need to take him in the first round.
So the Steelers have a shiny new wide receiver in DK Metcalf, but no quarterback to throw to him. And teams in this situation who aren’t drafting early are rarely in a position to improve their fortunes much. The good news is they will have Metcalf for the next five years. The bad news is they are going on four years without a credible starting quarterback.
