The Pittsburgh Steelers, a franchise generally known for stability, now has some considerable uncertainty at their most important position, according to a report.
After starting three different players at QB this past season and rumored to be looking to either trade or draft a new starter this offseason, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Saturday reported that “there appears to be some internal division that maybe Mason Rudolph should be the starter,’’ since he played well down the stretch, as the team made the playoffs.
Rudolph started three regular-season games and the Steelers won all of them after Kenny Pickett started a dozen games before he went down with an ankle injury.
Mitch Trubisky then started a pair before the team turned to Rudolph, who also started Pittsburgh’s playoff loss to Buffalo despite Pickett having been cleared to return.
The Steelers have already cut ties with Trubisky, and Rudolph, the team’s third-round pick in 2018, is set to be a free agent.
Pickett was drafted in the first round by the Steelers in 2022 and has yet to establish himself as the franchise quarterback, with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 25 career games (24 starts.)
He was healthy enough to play late in the season, but the team stuck with Rudolph, who was playing well.
There had been reports that the Steelers might be interested in totally upgrading the position by trading for Chicago’s Justin Fields or signing Kirk Cousins or Ryan Tannehill, also due to be free agents — or even signing Russell Wilson, who is expected to be released by the Broncos and potentially available to teams on a veteran-minimum deal.
But the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the team is “not interested in bringing in a quarterback who wants to be a starter.”
Toward the end of the season, there was some thought longtime head coach Mike Tomlin might leave the team after last year, but he put those rumors to rest and is set to be on the sidelines again this year.
That makes it apparent that the Steelers will have their typically high expectations — which would indicate a possible interest in one of those available QBs.
