If the Steelers wanted any chance at finding a young quarterback to develop this offseason, they would have kept Justin Fields in town. He ended up signing with the New York Jets. Once Pittsburgh declined to take a quarterback in the draft until the sixth round, it seemed clear that they were punting that decision until next offseason. After agreeing to a one-year deal with Aaron Rodgers, ESPN’s Marcus Spears thinks the Steelers are finally starting their search for a franchise quarterback.
“I thought that they should have started that process,” Spears said on NFL Live on Wednesday. “I’ve seen, over time, that this is a part of the Steelers’ starting their quarterback search for the guy of the future. I thought that by having Aaron Rodgers and you winning potentially too many games, you would be sitting in the same position you’ve been in for a number of years, trying to pick a quarterback late in the rounds. This is going to have to be a big play for a quarterback next year.”
One could argue that the search began long ago. After all, Aaron Rodgers is far from the only quarterback coming from a bad situation that the Steelers have tried to fix. Mitchell Trubisky, Russell Wilson, and Justin Fields are all examples of players coming off poor performances with different teams. Pittsburgh brought them in since they didn’t have a chance to find a top prospect in the draft. When they did take a swing, they struck out with Kenny Pickett. Even Mason Rudolph, who was signed early in the offseason, is coming off a poor stint with the Tennessee Titans.
However, 2026 represents an opportunity the Steelers haven’t had in a while. This offseason had a weaker quarterback class than next year’s is projected to be. They’re also in a unique situation where they can have a good season and still draft high. Pittsburgh has a load of picks available next offseason. Even if they end up at the end of the first round again, they have the arsenal to make a move up the board.
However, if given that opportunity, they still need to take advantage of it. That’s something they’ve failed to do in recent years. It’s also why they had no choice but to wait on Aaron Rodgers for months this offseason. Unfortunately, it’s going to take a big and successful swing, as Spears says, to get out of that boat.
In the meantime, they’re giving an aging defensive core one more swing with Rodgers. The Steelers are trying to capitalize on their current window of opportunity. At the same time, they hope to retool for the future. It’s hard to do both of those things well. Over the next year, we’ll see if Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin can pull it off.
