For the past half decade, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been treading water. They’ve managed to remain competitive enough to reach the playoffs in four of the past five seasons but have done absolutely nothing after getting there. Chris Canty thinks that mediocre stretch has put the Steelers in a bad place from an organizational standpoint.
“Yeah, if you look over the next five years, they might have the bleakest outlook of any of the AFC North teams,” Canty said Thursday on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike. “And we don’t even know who the hell the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns is. But I know they got two first-round draft picks next year. They’ll get the guy. How the hell are the Pittsburgh Steelers getting a quarterback?”
For starters, are we that sure the Browns are going to “get the guy?” They’ve been trying to do so for a few decades now.
In all seriousness, though, this offseason isn’t the first, and probably won’t be the last, in which people are pessimistic about the Steelers. The same opinion was held by many last summer, as the Steelers prepared to roll into the season with Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. The Steelers are constantly undervalued in offseason predictions and manage to scrape their way to nine or 10 wins anyways.
The Steelers’ quarterback situation has been an area Canty has heavily critiqued all offseason. On Wednesday, he blamed Mike Tomlin for ruining the quarterback situation. And that leads us to the question that’s haunted the franchise over the past five years. Is it Tomlin’s fault for not being able to find a quarterback? Or is he overachieving despite having a less-talented roster?
Regardless, it’s fair to argue the Steelers are behind a couple of their AFC North counterparts when looking at the future. The quarterback position rules above all else in the NFL. As such, it’s really hard to make the argument that the Steelers’ future is brighter than the Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson or the Cincinnati Bengals with Joe Burrow. Especially when the Steelers’ top two QB targets this offseason seem to be Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins.
Canty questions when the Steelers will get their own talented, young quarterback. If they play their cards right, it won’t be too far into the future. Pittsburgh has a load of draft picks coming in 2026 and should have plenty of ammunition to trade up in a talented quarterback class. Unfortunately, the fan base will have to go through another year with an old veteran quarterback who doesn’t quite have it anymore running the show. However, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. And it’s not an oncoming train.
Thus, next year’s draft, which happens to be in Pittsburgh, feels like a major event for the franchise. If the Steelers can find their quarterback, these conversations are going to start looking a whole lot different, and their future will look much brighter.
