You don’t have to surf the Internet for long to find people critical of the way the Steelers have handled their QB situation this offseason. It’s fair to be upset, as Mason Rudolph is currently in line to start.
However, given their lack of options this offseason, is there much they could have done? The Athletic’s Robert Mays doesn’t think so.
“Yeah, this is a viable path,” Mays said of Monday the Steelers’ QB search on The Athletic Football Show. “This is probably the best way to go about it. If you wanna sign [Aaron] Rodgers, great, I think that’s totally reasonable based on the alternatives right now. If you wanna bypass a quarterback in this year’s draft, I think that’s okay too.”
The Steelers have caught some heat during their pursuit for Rodgers. The largest reason for that is obviously the amount of time they’ve had to wait for him to make a decision. It’s unusual for a historically successful franchise, like the Steelers, to be waiting on a QB for so long. Still, as Mays points out, it’s not like there were a ton of other options. The Steelers did make an offer to Justin Fields, but it wasn’t enough to keep him from signing with the New York Jets. Since then, Rodgers has been their top priority.
The draft is an option, but it might be difficult for the Steelers to find their QB there. At the 21st selection, there are several teams ahead of them that also need their franchise QB. Those include the Titans, Browns, Giants, and the Saints after Derek Carr’s shoulder injury that was reported a few days ago. The Steelers might consider themselves lucky if a worthy QB even fell to No. 21. And even if one does, the Steelers have other needs to address too.
Many think, given the amount of compensatory picks the Steelers should receive next year, that they could be aiming to make a run at a QB during the 2026 draft. Mays sees the vision there but thinks it’s easier said than done.
“This idea of, we’re gonna load up for next year? If you win nine games again, and you’re sitting there with the 17th pick, that’s hard to do,” Mays said. “When you look at recent history, there’s some teams that have been able to move up (in the draft) a little bit, but not that much.”
The most recent example of a team giving up a large number of picks of select a quarterback would be Carolina with Bryce Young. Then, the Panthers moved up from ninth to first. Young showed promise in 2024, but that selection shows the risk that comes with making such a move. The Panthers have had extremely little success since then and gave up a ton of draft picks to make the trade.
Mays has a good point. Positioning yourself well for the 2026 draft only really happens if you have a high draft pick. If the Steelers end up picking in the bottom half of the first round again, trading up so far would be difficult, to say the least. Pittsburgh could try land a higher draft pick through a trade instead, but that takes two willing parties.
At the end of the day, it’s always risky drafting a quarterback in the first round. It’s even more risky when you have to trade assets to move up in order to do so. The idea of the Steelers gearing up for a QB in 2026 sounds good now, especially if they don’t draft one this year. However, it’s far from a sure thing.
