Quarterback, Secondary Headline Pittsburgh Steelers Offseason Needs
By Evan Bachman
Quarterback
For the first time since 2005 the Pittsburgh Steelers opening day starter at quarterback will be someone other than Ben Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger had a magical career for the Steelers that included 13 playoff wins and two super bowl wins. However, this season it was obvious that this needed to be the end for him as he really struggled at times and couldn’t really throw downfield anymore.
According to an article on post-gazette.com, the Steelers have told Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins that they’ll compete for the starting job for next year.
Rudolph started eight games in 2019 when Roethlisberger was injured, one game in 2020, and one game in 2021. In those games Rudolph hasn’t been a complete disaster, but wasn’t good either.
Haskins is a former first-round pick who had a lot of success at Ohio State, however he was cut by the Washington Commanders after just two seasons. He’s also a restricted free agent and while I think the Steelers will want to bring him back, there’s much better options for a starting quarterback out there.
The first option for the Steelers is to trade for one of the quarterbacks that may be available on trade market. They could trade for a star quarterback like Deshaun Watson. Trading for him would likely come at a high cost and is pretty unlikely.
A trade option that I think would make a lot of sense for the Steelers however would be Jimmy Garoppolo. He shouldn’t cost too much and he would allow for a potential bridge gap for a year or two if they decide to invest in a quarterback of the future in the draft.
Another option that would make a lot of sense would be to sign Jameis Winston. Just like Garoppolo, he’d provide a viable starting quarterback option while they develop a potential future franchise quarterback.
While this is a pretty weak quarterback class, there are some solid options out there that the Steelers will be looking at. Potential first rounders include Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, Desmond Ridder, Matt Corral, and Sam Howell.
The Steelers have been linked to Willis, which is something that would make a lot of sense for them. They likely will have to trade up in order to get him, so the question is if they’re willing to give up what it would take to move up ten or so spots?