Another domino in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ line of dominoes fell yesterday when Russell Wilson signed with the New York Giants. Prior to this, the Steelers already knew they’d be starting a new quarterback for the fifth straight season when Justin Fields left for the Jets. While Steeler Nation waits with the utmost anxiety for Aaron Rodgers to make up his damn mind, Omar Khan and the Steelers find themselves in QB purgatory.
Wilson signed with the G-Men for $21 million and about $10.5 guaranteed. That was easily within the budget for the Steelers. This tells me a couple of things. First, I believe there were issues beyond just the disagreements between Wilson and Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith. I don’t know what those were but it’s clear the Steelers weren’t serious about bringing him back.
Secondly, I also believe that Aaron Rodgers has been high on the QB list since day one when Sam Darnold wasn’t available and Justin Fields was paid more handsomely than Khan dreamed of paying him. The Rodgers courtship is much more about Mike Tomlin though and most of you know this. The fact that we are now waiting on the 41-year old ‘independent thinker’ has its’ roots in the last few seasons where bad draft picks and poor signings have decimated the team’s chances.
Cleaning up the quarterback issue is not easy, just ask fans who lived through the 1980’s. It is also not something that happens overnight – in most cases – so the Steelers cannot overreact. This is not a good draft for QBs yet more and more “experts” seem to think the Steelers will trade up for Shadeur Sanders if he falls out of the Top 10 or they’ll take Jaxson Dart at 21.
I’m not going to lay down any definitive statements on either but I don’t see Sanders or Dart as the answer to the ‘franchise QB problem.’ Clearly this would be something I would be more than happy to be wrong about, but only time will tell. Khan and the Steelers missed badly on Kenny Pickett who is now on his third team in three seasons. They’ve also struggled to nail their first round picks period when you really think about it.
I will not blame them if they take a flyer on a QB on day three of the Draft because you just never know. Maybe the next Tom Brady is out there waiting to be drafted in the sixth round. I have a better chance of winning the lottery this week but hey, you can’t win if you don’t play.
Khan and Tomlin have to be patient. I respect that they want to be ‘competitive’ every season but this roster just isn’t that good right now. Trading picks to move up for QBs with so many questions about them just isn’t wise. They need to continue replenishing the roster and look to the QB position next year.
Image courtesy post-gazette.com
