The Pittsburgh Steelers appear to be narrowing their focus to Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, with the necessary contingencies. If Rodgers doesn’t work out, they will have to pivot back to Russell Wilson, or someone else. But no matter what course they take, Gerry Dulac says, the quarterback search is far from over. And that includes this year.
The Steelers had no great options at quarterback, including their presumed “Plan A” of Justin Fields. No matter what they did, there remained the possibility that they would use a draft pick on a quarterback. Perhaps not in the first round, but certainly by the end of the weekend, for the right price.
As things stand, with Fields and Sam Darnold off the board, they can only make do with what is currently available. “Even if Rodgers or Wilson is signed, it increases the possibility the Steelers could take a quarterback higher than expected in the draft”, Dulac writes.
So what exactly does that mean? Arguably, the only quarterback that the Steelers have no realistic shot of drafting is Cam Ward, who could go first overall. Any other quarterback, including Shedeur Sanders, could fall as far as the Steelers’ 21st-overall selection. Sanders could also go second, but even if he does, that leaves other options open.
Jaxson Dart is the name that has the most buzz to potentially slide into the first round. That is no guarantee, though, even if the Steelers were to consider him that high, and it’s possible that he falls to the second, or even later. The Steelers don’t expect to have a second-round pick, however, planning to ship that to the Seahawks for DK Metcalf.
So if the Steelers don’t draft a quarterback in the first round, and they can’t in the second, that leaves the third round as the earliest possibility, barring a trade up. Alternatively, they could attempt to recoup a second-round pick by, say trading George Pickens. I’m not sure Steelers fans would love trading Pickens only to use that pick to draft Dart, though, even if the alternative is Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson for potentially multiple seasons.
Outside of the top three names, there are plenty of other quarterbacks the Steelers might consider. Tyler Shough is a name of obvious interest, since they brought him in for a pre-draft visit. There is also Jalen Milroe, Will Howard, Riley Leonard, Quinn Ewers, and Kyle McCord, whose likely draft positions will vary wildly.
The Steelers have struggled to replace Ben Roethlisberger since he retired after 18 seasons. Many argue that they had no succession plan in place; I would argue that they had no good one. Let’s not forget, even though he was a third-round pick, the Steelers drafted Mason Rudolph in 2018 thinking that he had the potential to be their future starter. He had three seasons to mature, but by the end of that apprenticeship, they felt the need to look elsewhere.
After Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season, the Steelers signed Mitch Trubisky as a potential bridge quarterback. They then used their first-round pick on Kenny Pickett, who started for most of the next two seasons. Considering neither of them were even on the team last year—nor was Rudolph—it’s safe to say the Steelers’ plans haven’t worked out. The way it’s looking, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields won’t be back, either.
