The Pittsburgh Steelers are attempting to strike a delicate, potentially impossible balance between winning now and preparing for the future. They’re all-in on going for a playoff run with a veteran-laden team led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers while also planning for the future in a monumental 2026 NFL Draft where the Steelers hold 12 picks.
Bootleg Football podcast host Brett Kollmann and EJ Snyder spent an hour criticizing the Steelers and their leadership for a perceived lack of plan.
“This duo [head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan] with their lack of future planning whatsoever, as much as I like them individually, I almost feel like they’re toxic for each other,” said Kollmann. “Because they refuse to look at each other and say ‘We need to take our medicine.’ I feel like somebody else needs to step in the room and say ‘Look guys, we have to do this.'”
The Steelers are planning for the future. They have 12 picks next year in a draft that should have plenty of quarterback talent. In addition, Kollmann left out the fact that Pittsburgh has another voice in the room. It’s assistant general manager Andy Weidl.
Kollmann responded to criticism on Twitter stating, “Having 12 picks isn’t a plan, that’s a prayer.”
There have been a lot of comments from Steelers fans on today’s episode to the effect of “they ARE planning for the future, they have 12 picks to trade up for a quarterback!”
And to those fans, I’ll just ask this.
What if they can’t trade up?
The Giants were at SIX, and still…
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) July 17, 2025
Having 12 picks means they can trade up for a quarterback next year or continue to build a young core for years to come. One of Kollmann’s criticisms throughout the video was how old the Steelers are. These 12 picks can allow Pittsburgh to usher in a new generation of talent for the team.
Despite being loaded with draft capital, Kollmann thinks the Steelers are not being responsible with their future.
“This mentality of ‘we refuse to be bad, we refuse to tank,’ I’m not saying you need to tank, but at least be responsible with the future,” said Kollmann. “At least understand that you can take your lumps to build a younger, faster, healthier, cheaper roster. You can put yourselves in position to get a quarterback in a very strong upcoming quarterback class.”
While I agree with Kollmann that the Steelers’ management has a problem of refusing to be bad, we disagree with what the alternative should’ve been. With most of their other moves aligned with an all-in strategy, I wanted to see George Pickens playing for a new contract with this revamped offense. Kollmann, on the other hand, thinks Pittsburgh’s plan this year is pointless and they should just be bad because they won’t be better than the teams with franchise quarterbacks.
Before the Pickens trade, the Steelers already had plenty of picks for 2026. The pick gained from trading him likely won’t make the difference in whether they land their quarterback of the future or not.
When you have over 10 picks in the draft, you don’t have to take lumps for the sake of taking lumps. Additionally, Pittsburgh doesn’t need to draft in the top 10 to get a franchise quarterback. Good quarterbacks fall out of the top 10 all the time — look at Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, and Aaron Rodgers.
The Steelers do have a plan. You can disagree with it, you can say it’s one foot in one foot out, but the idea that they don’t have a plan is just wrong. Only time will tell if Pittsburgh’s plan will net a franchise quarterback and a place among the upper echelon of the NFL again.
