The Pittsburgh Steelers struggled to find much consistency at the quarterback position throughout most of the 2023-24 season. And this could lead to them making a big making a big move at the position this offseason, according to longtime owner Art Rooney.
Rooney appeared on KDKA News (CBS Pittsburgh) on Tuesday, where he was asked about potentially making a move at the quarterback position this offseason if the price is right.
To this, he responded that the team would not be “closing the door” on any possibility
“As we sit here in early February, we’re not closing the door on anything,” said Rooney. “We have a lot of evaluations to go through. We’ll go through all the options and do what we need to do to be better this coming season.”
BREAKING: Steelers President Art Rooney II tells the legend @kdpomp that the Steelers are NOT closing the door on a quarterback trade. (i.e. Justin Fields) pic.twitter.com/5Rx8lphYT0
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) February 7, 2024
Second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett began the season as the starter for the Steelers. But a number of injuries along with inconsistent play led to longtime backup Mason Rudolph taking the starting job near the end of the season.
Controversy then arose once Pickett was healthy enough to return, but ultimately did not end up starting in the Steelers’ Wild Card matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
This quote from Rooney isn’t exactly all that much of a surprise considering Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said last month that there will be a competition for the starting job this coming offseason.
Still, it is very interesting to hear this from Rooney because Pickett is so young in his NFL career. It could be argued that he at least deserves one more year as the team’s starter to prove himself.
On the other hand, the Steelers are clearly a team that could be just a quarterback away from being a true contender in the AFC.
A number of quarterbacks such as Kirk Cousins or Justin Fields could become available this offseason as potential targets for the Steelers. And it seems like there will at least be a discussion in the Pittsburgh front office about potentially going to get an available quarterback option to compete for the starting job.
[Andrew Fillipponi on Twitter/X]
