The Pittsburgh Steelers still don’t have an official answer from 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and they passed on some projected high-end quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft before landing on Ohio State’s Will Howard in the sixth round.
That decision, coupled with the uncertainty with Rodgers, has many questioning the Steelers and their plan moving forward.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. criticized the Steelers time and time again over the weekend, and ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum did on Monday morning as well, stating the plan makes no sense during an appearance on ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike.
Then, while on Get Up Monday morning, Tannenbaum took his criticism of the Steelers’ QB situation a step further, suggesting that if the Steelers can’t find a quarterback, they should just trade star outside linebacker T.J. Watt.
Here we go again.
The comment about trading Watt from Tannenbaum came after Get Up host Mike Greenberg jokingly suggested trading for Kenny Pickett from the Cleveland Browns after they signed Joe Flacco and drafted two QBs in Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
“I don’t think the Steelers are gonna wait on an AFC North rival to get their quarterback. And again, like all I’m saying, what I find to be inconsistent, Greenie, is if you’re gonna go get [DK] Metcalf and say we have an issue at offense, then go get the quarterback. If not, go trade T.J. Watt,” Tannenbaum said of the Steelers and the quarterback situation, according to video via ESPN.
The Steelers have a specific style of football they want to play, which is running the football, taking some deep shots down the field, playing good defense, getting after the quarterback and forcing turnovers. More often than not last season, that style of play worked, at least until the final five weeks of the season when the offense fell apart and the defense was banged up and couldn’t stop the run.
Right or wrong, the Steelers believe in that style of play. They doubled down on it this offseason, especially in the draft. They seem to have a plan at quarterback and believe that Rodgers is coming at some point this offseason.
So, why exactly would the Steelers trade away one of their best players just because they don’t have a QB answer for 2025 and have been following a plan all offseason with potentially having eyes on the 2026 NFL Draft class at quarterback?
That comment about trading Watt is a good example of why Tannenbaum is a former NFL GM.
You don’t trade Watt — especially now with the draft already over. The Steelers are likely going to extend Watt and give him everything he’s worth, keeping him in the Steel City for likely the rest of his playing career with this next contract.
The “trade Watt” comment isn’t new, and it’s sillier each and every time it’s mentioned on national airwaves. He’s not going anywhere, and trading Watt now doesn’t do anything for the Steelers in 2025 but weaken them significantly.
