A Letter From the Editor: Steelers fans are left wondering what is next
The Pittsburgh Steelers love consistency.
They despise change.
If I’m being honest, they love touting their three coaches since 1969 figure which is so often discussed around league circles and among the national media.
While all the above is true, it makes the fact the team has been anything but consistent the past few seasons even more remarkable. To be more specific to the range of the Steelers lack of consistency you’d have to go back to the end of the Ben Roethlisberger era. Since then, the Steelers seem to be an organization grasping for straws, and that is with more positions other than quarterback.
Before going any further, I need to make it clear not every franchise has a clear succession plan in place for their franchise quarterback to depart the organization. In fact, it’s easier for me to list those teams who did luck into having a succession plan than those who didn’t.
San Francisco 49ers: Joe Montana to Steve Young
Green Bay Packers: Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers
New England Patriots: Drew Bledsoe to Tom Brady
Baltimore Ravens: Joe Flacco to Lamar Jackson
I’m sure there are others which I’m forgetting, but these are the lucky few organizations who have watched one winning quarterback give way to their next franchise signal caller without missing a beat. Without having a “Bradshaw to Ben” type era in their history.
For the Steelers, the post-Ben era has been anything but consistent in many ways, not just at quarterback. At quarterback the Steelers have seen the likes of Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields all take their shot at being the next “guy” for the organization, but there are other players who have come and gone in that same time frame.
Diontae Johnson, Kendrick Green, Kevin Dotson and now George Pickens have all seen their time with the Steelers end via trade, and the number of players the Steelers have allowed to depart in free agency is a lengthy list. When you consider the Steelers haven’t picked up a 5th year option since Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2018, it screams of issues from top-down within the organization. The last drafted player to have his 5th year option picked up? Try T.J. Watt in 2017. Since then, not one.
For an organization which prides itself on consistency, they have absolutely lacked in that category since the end of the Roethlisberger and Kevin Colbert era. I realize sometimes change isn’t just accepted, but also needed, and many would argue there needed to be some serious change at the end of the aforementioned era. But throughout all of it, the fans are the ones who are constantly wondering, “What’s next?”
What’s next at the quarterback position? Is Aaron Rodgers going to be the quarterback this season, or will it be Mason Rudolph and company?
Is the plan of gaining draft picks in 2026 going to work out?
Will the Steelers be able to finally get the quarterback position right, and not just band-aid the position year-after-year?
Is the Omar Khan era equivocally better than the end of the Colbert era?
I could continue, but I feel like you understand exactly what I’m saying when it comes to the current state of the Steelers. The state of the team is anything but consistent. It’s anything but predictable. And it’s been anything but successful when regarding to what matters most, and that’s winning when it matters most.
Are they righting the ship and finding a new path which will equate to future success? It is possible, but I can’t blame any fan who has serious questions about the direction and trajectory of the team moving forward after yet another turbulent offseason. Steelers fans will be faithful, they always are, but if the trust in “the process” is waning you can’t blame anyone for thinking that way.
I believe there are positive steps being made, but the proof is genuinely in the pudding, and we’ll get to see just how much the team is improving in 2025 when the regular season rolls around.
Well written article that raises a lot of the questions I’ve been asking for a few years now, with better data.
Fans tend to rush in to the blame game – focusing their ire on whichever “lightning rod” attracts their attention, but it’s clear that the issues go a little deeper than Tomlin, or Colbert, or Canada. Now they didn’t necessarily help the situation, but it can’t be *all* the fault of whichever of those lightning rods attracts your attention.
As a rank outsider, I really don’t know what happens behind the scenes, but some combination of scouting/evaluation, decision making, and coaching is not right.
[edited to add:] Remember, the NFL is a zero sum game, and the other guys get paid, too, so some variability is expected, but it seems that the Steelers used to be one of the smarter teams in the NFL and remained highly competitive even in that zero sum game, and of late, they are less competitive.
It does it make it hard to trust the process, but as fans, all we can do is hope.
Not re-typing Dufresne quote again today, and I concur, Mr. Grinch.
Just have to get this out of the way
Your opening mentions consistency, we can not say that in terms of the QB situation. Think of it as you may but they have overturned that room twice now. This will be the third in a row with an all new room.
Will be nice to get off that train.
I guess I could have read the entire article or at least the QB part. But sometimes things just stand out and that happened to be the first part of your article. There seems to be some similarities in your article and my lengthy rant in one of the articles at the former home place. Every year since Ben retired and maybe even a few years with him still playing, we as fans….well some of us….have said this is the make or break year in terms of the off season. Whether it be free agency or the draft? But 2026 is actually that year.
They seem to be positioning themselves to get a “future franchise QB”. The quotation marks are there simply because it isn’t a given. I still can’t help but feel that this is a half hearted effort to make this the best case scenario, and that’s still reminding that it isn’t a given.
What I’m getting at is those 3rd 4th and 5th round comp picks aren’t going to move the needle in terms of making sure they get their guy. We can argue or debate over who we think is that guy but what matters is that they get there guy…..not just a guy…..the right guy. Before I get off track and into another long(er) rant. Why are they still pursuing Aaron Rodgers? Is it to try and win a few more games to secure another Tomlin Trophy? Well guess what that does, it pushes you further down the draft board. Thus creating the use of more draft capital.
I’m not saying you tank but I’m saying you already traded Pickens a very talented WR and understand why but you continue to wait on Rodgers. For what? To be competitive? If you wanted to be competitive you would have signed high end free agents with the available cap space. You would have kept Pickens even in the last year of his rookie deal. For what a guaranteed 3rd round pick? If positioning means anything you tell Rodgers thanks but no thanks and you let the cards fall where they may. No one would say anything at this point…..or anyone that should matter. You have been patient on the is he or isn’t he.
What you are doing is half assing the attempt to acquire a future franchise guy. If Rudolph doesn’t get the job done then you have essentially killed two birds with one stone. I am one that believes that Rudolph was given a very unfair situation, did he take advantage of the opportunity. No but it doesn’t change my stance on the topic. I also believe the Steelers have failed miserably at life after Ben, no, it wasn’t going to be easy but they made it harder on many levels.
I believe they are making it harder now by waiting on Rodgers. Once again I’m not saying tank but stop going about it the wrong way.
I’m sure there will be feedback on this long rant but you guys and girls have a blessed day. Go Steelers.
This is an exceptional response and I heartily agree on all points PB56! Well written.
Yes indeed, I’m with SY.
Author, why no AARod to Jordan Love? Kevin Dotson is doing well, GP will need to do at least as well as Dotson. Quite a few TBDs above.
As to Khan, it seems to me one of his hats is to assist the Steelers in the acquisition of players the Steelers feel will excell in Pgh’s system. Where/when are the coaches, staff, and players themselves accountble for quality? An old tune, I know. Seems early to compare late-stage Colbert to early-stage Khan artistry.
Khan gets a pass at this stage of it but I still can’t get past that the search for the next franchise QB is being half assed. You want Rodgers, and they still do because they haven’t said as much and then you trade talent away and you don’t use the money available in FA. I know that was part of my rant above but I need someone to explain it to me how it makes sense. Those mid round picks aren’t getting you where you need to be unless you are just settling for “a” QB.
If they are content to go into the season with this roster, and their schedule, they won’t have nearly as far to move to get into the top 8 as they usually do. So perhaps the capital they’re amassing is enough? Now if they use some of said capital to trade for Cousins (please no, just no) or a WR that will be truly baffling to me.
Maybe so, JoeB, regarding ’25’s record. I doubt Pgh would be able to successfully move up in ’26 draft with only those five added picks. Browns and Rams both have two ’26 draft first-round picks to barter from jump. Jets (go Fields, except vs. Pgh), Saints, Giants, Colts, and Team X due to injury could be QB hunting. Now, that idea of using that new 3rd on a guy like Dontayvion Wicks or Doubs, that’s okay with me, GB’s got cards on Pgh though. Dave could check me here, but I don’t think teams can trade unassigned comp picks.
Please add Seahawks and Raiders as potential ’26 QB draft competition, due to performance TBD in ’25.
Not saying they’ll be in the driver seat, just that they’re gonna be closer to top 8 than usual.
Personally I think if they’re gonna go up 10 slots they’re gonna have to give up 27’s #1 to even get a conversation started with another team. Then they can see if they have enough with all the other picks to get a move done.
Absolutely undestand and agree, JoeB.
PB56, how to make QB1 search less-assed? ’25 QB draft was mostly desert. I share your frustration, honestly. Too bad the FO didn’t retain Fields for ’25, for Smith at least. AARod is wasted money and time, along with potential aggravation for numerous people. The apparent infatuation with AARod defies understanding, no need to try. I look at Sharp’s FA list, I don’t see many needle-movers, and I could be wrong.
And honestly, Fields, while improved last despite (because of?) deliberate restraint, may not be a franchise QB. I dunno if Fields can become as efficient as Mayfield.
The loss of Shazier, Tuitt, Brown and Bell, all in their prime, punched holes in the team that never got patched. The needs that Colbert had to fill with his last two drafts were huge. QB, entire OLine, 2 inside linebackers, entire secondary minus Minkah, RB 1, RB 2, and every wide receiver. Add Matt Cavanaugh, last year’s schedule, and the still unexplained loss of the pigeons, it’s a hill to climb!
We’re in better shape now, but not the shape we want. We’re just treading water at QB and WR 2. My choices would be sink or swim with Mason and surprise me with another Hines Ward.
Junebug, Matt Cavanaugh? He’s blameless in Steelers’ mess. Remember 1976!!
Agree with go Mason, would love Wilson to become Ward Ii.
It looks to me that they’re getting rid of the Colbert players, whether that’s purposeful or organic is not clear, but year after year more are gone.
I had been overall pleased with the front office; however, I didn’t understand the WR situation last year. I still don’t know who’s at fault there, GM or Coaches, but there did seem to be a disconnect there. Seemed like they learned from that situation, but turned around and put themselves right back into it. Fold that in with the QB debacle and I’m much less sure of Khan and Co now than I’ve been. I like the commitment to the trenches, but I can’t see why they seem ok with going into the season with holes in the roster.
The 25 process is still very young, so I’m not near pressing the panic button, but I’d be lying if I said my confidence is not shaken.
I vote for deliberate culling by the current FO, yep.
The run of things during late-stage Colbert stinked, stank, stunk so much that it must’ve been everyone’s fault. Roster so fouled-up from years of poor drafting requires years to fix even with free agency…and good fortune. Can’t have drafting and free agency like ’71 and ’74 every time.
I hope the Steelers have learned about WR, 15 years is a long movie, and perhaps it has with Wilson and Azzanni.
As to current QB debacle, seems like ’49ers, Packers, and Chiefs have the best idea; get potential next guy in while current guy is playing okay. Needs forethought, luck, and discipline, seems damn hard to me. Belichek couldn’t do it.
Roster holes, easy to fill, damn hard to fill well and quickly. Chiefs often have suspect tackles, for example. Steelers break my heart sometimes, but I watch anyway . I’m nothing if not persistent–a good Pakled.
And, no Cousins! Steelers would be better off with former Pro Bowler Tyle Huntley, instead.
They’re accumulating picks, but … just spitballing … is 2026 absolutely the target year?
I could see them rolling some of those picks forward another year. Especially if Manning stays in school another year.
I’m a Klubnik or Beck guy, myself, for ’26. NCAA ’25 season remains to play out. And certainly Pgh will have competiton regardless of draft year.
With regards to the WR spot, why haven’t the players or more specifically the Vet’s actually act like Vets and do their part in keeping the young guys in line? See I came across an article on how Kahn is trying to balance having a Talented WR while at the same time trying to find 1 who won’t disrupt the team and to me it’s not going to work. WR’s are Diva’s that is something HOF Cris Carter said and that’s 100% fact no one can deny that. Pretty much most of the best WR’s of all time were divas even John Stallworth was a “Diva”.
He was in the locker room and Noll asked him what was wrong and John responded by saying he only got 1 catch, Noll asked him would rather get more Catches or Win? Stallworth answered Chuck I’d like to think we can do both.
The GOAT Jerry Rice was also a Diva. In the late 90’s with the up-and-coming Young WR”s in San Fran Jerry in a sense pouted that it was still his time and that the young guys can wait their turn. In Rice’s last game with SF and TO getting the ball a lot due to the Bears doubling Rice, he acted like a Diva. Go back and watch a Football Life on Jerry Rice and you will see what I mean.
WR’s turn into Diva’s, now it’s true that not all of them do but the Good Ones usually turn out that way it’s can it be managed. This leads me to Pickens and both CA3 and Roman Wilson: If neither guy can fill in the gap left by Pickens and should Pickens behave then the whole conversation will change from praising Kahn to lambasting him.
Wow. If vets must hand-hold young WRs, let alone all young players, that’s just sad. It may be that Pgh tried that with Allen Robinson and Van Jefferson. Perhaps you’re right, lots of things I don’t understand.
Did Khan say it was his goal to have one talented receiver and another WR that would get along with the team? If so, that is lunacy. If the article writer wrote that that is what he/she thought of Khan’s decision or how he would form a WR room, who cares?
So Stallworth and Rice were divas. Did they act in ways both on- and off-field detrimental to the Steelers effort to win games?
Whatever GP does moving forward, it has no bearing on any member of the Steelers organization, it seems to me. Folks blaming Khan or anyone else if GP finds success and CAIII/RW do not are missing the point, at best. GP was traded for what he did that the Steelers organization disliked in the past. In the time to come, Pgh must fill that WR2 with someone. Maybe CAIII or RW will successfully do that, or not. We’ll see.
No the article was based on what Kahn is trying to find at WR. A Talented WR but someone who won’t be a disruption to the rest of the team. Stallworth said that quote in America’s Game the 79 Steelers where he was in the locker room and was upset at not getting enough catches.
With Rice he felt at that time in the late 90’s that he was always the No.1 Option and that the young guys had to wait their turn. That came from Jerry Rice’s daughter Jacqui in a Football Life Jerry Rice, him being upset that TO was getting more catches in the last Game Jerry Played as a Niner also came from that episode where the coach at the time Steve Maruicci recalled Rice bending down and saying to Steve “Coach this is supposed to be my day, It’s Jerry Rice Day not TO Day”. It wasn’t there on field attitude although in Rice’s case maybe more evident, it was the fact they wanted the ball as much as possible and still get the win.
87, I lived through Stallworth and Rice, I’m familiar w/both.
My question is, did Khan actually say that was his idea for building a WR room, or was it someone else’s idea of what Khan’s doing now? If Khan said what you summarize above, it seems to me to be lunacy. If what you summarize above is what someone else thinks about Khan’s process, it is irrelevant to me.
Opinions all around.
https://x.com/C_AdamskiTrib/status/1920888777276309797. This article is what I’m talking about in regards to Kahn. Look i get that WR’s can be headaches but at some point, the Vet’s need to be able to hold the young guys accountable. Yes I get that Tomlin has to do that as well but to simply put it all on the HC is to me at least not fair, but it is what it is.
Get in good players and good people, we’re trying to win a championship. Seems to me like GM-speak, whatever. Like Tomlin, mostly meaningless. Would it be desirable then for Allen Robinson, Van Jefferson, and now Robert Woods to have whip-cracking authority? Agree Tomlin should not have to sit divas. Neither should Azzanni.
Thanks for context SY. Just my thoughts
Correction: Thank you, Mr. 87, and my apology for incorrect ID above.
a true Pittsburgh Steelers fan, since the 70’s as a Steelers fan the only thing on my mind is I want all the sports media groups and Steelers haters with their rat poison and stop saying that Aaron Rodgers is coming to the Steeler and or Kirk Cousins I’m happy with Mason Rudolph Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers shuold go to the New Orleans Saints or to the Canadian football League
Or, Aaron could retire and tend to his private affairs. Those seem demanding and time-consuming from my POV and Aaron’s own words.
Aaron Rodgers “coming to the Steelers…” is NOT “coming from the sports media” – It’s sadly coming from the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Please don’t crush my dreams, JoeB. Steelers’s W vs. Colts, and sanity for Steelers’ FO. Are these so much?
Maybe sanity to FO is too big of a dream, after all. Ugh. “Days of our Steelers” will continue after these messages, with acknowledgement to Urinating Tree.