Despite not having a franchise quarterback, Mike Tomlin still wants the Pittsburgh Steelers to compete for a Super Bowl. That might be tough to achieve this year, though. While NFL teams have become championship contenders without great quarterback play before, it’s incredibly difficult to do. The Steelers haven’t even won a playoff game in eight years. However, Derrik Klassen of The Athletic thinks the Steelers’ unwillingness to be aggressive is a bigger issue than their quarterback problem.
“I’m less hung up on that part of it,” Klassen said recently on The Athletic Football Show. “I’m not even as hung up on the aging vets on defense. Where I get hung up is they just don’t seem that willing to do stuff that’s going to move the needle.
“This offseason, maybe they kind of were with the DK Metcalf trade. It seems like they a little bit realized they need to do stuff that is a little bit more aggressive. But to me, the issue for a long time has just been, ‘Oh, well, we’re the Steelers and if we just do what we do, then it’ll work out.’ That was true for a decade with Ben Roethlisberger. But since then, it’s been a lot of winning in spite of a lot of things.”
The Steelers aren’t the most aggressive team in the league. It isn’t often that they make huge, reactionary moves. More often than not, they exercise patience, sticking with their plan. While that’s worked sometimes, it hasn’t always been the best strategy.
This offseason might illustrate Klassen’s point. The Steelers have had some issues finding a quality starting quarterback. They brought Mason Rudolph back, but he seems more suited to be a backup. Reportedly, they looked into trading for Matthew Stafford, but no deal came about. They allowed Justin Fields to leave for the New York Jets. Then, they watched most of the best free agent QBs get signed.
Now, they’re stuck waiting for Aaron Rodgers. You could argue that their lack of aggressiveness has landed them in this situation. There’s no telling if Rodgers will sign in Pittsburgh, or if he’ll even play in the NFL again. It’s May, and this question is still hanging over the Steelers.
To be fair, the Steelers have made some bigger moves in recent years. The Metcalf trade is the biggest example. Not only did the Steelers give up a second-round pick for him, but they also signed him to a massive deal. That is extremely out of the ordinary for them.
That isn’t the only example, either. The Steelers have been more active in free agency with Omar Khan as their general manager. Last year, they made Patrick Queen the highest-paid free agent in franchise history. In the 2023 draft, Khan’s first, the Steelers traded up in the first round, if only slightly.
For years, the Steelers operated more like Klassen says. They weren’t inclined to make splash moves. That seems to be changing, though. Khan seems more open to doing things differently. Maybe the Steelers won’t be like the Los Angeles Rams of a few years ago when they were more likely to trade their first-round pick than actually use it. However, they aren’t as closed off to making riskier deals, either.
