Coming out of the 2025 NFL Draft, no team is in a more precarious situation than the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still without a definitive starting quarterback, the Steelers are virtually guaranteed to return to the free agency market to address their pressing roster needs.
Despite making the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, Pittsburgh is in as clear a rebuilding state as any team in the league. However, after trading for DK Metcalf earlier in the offseason, the Steelers are hardly in a position to fully blow it up. As they look for their fourth starting quarterback in the last three years, time is slowly running out.
After trading for Metcalf, the Steelers brought in a seven-player draft class led by defensive tackle Derrick Harmon. Five of their seven players will join the defense, establishing a clear focus after making the big offensive splash in the trade market. Pittsburgh’s two offensive draft picks, Kaleb Johnson and Will Howard, addressed the team’s two most significant needs.
The Steelers received largely positive feedback on their draft selections, but still left Green Bay with more questions than answers that can only be answered in free agency. In his fourth offseason with the team, general manager Omar Khan enters the summer months with more work to do than any of his peers.
Steelers need to sign a quarterback in free agency
The Steelers continue to wait on Aaron Rodgers, but have to give up on that venture and revert to plan B. There is no hurry, as the remaining batch of quarterbacks is nothing teams are rushing to the phones for. However, Rodgers’ retirement announcement seems more likely with each passing day, which would eventually force Pittsburgh to scavenge for the next best option.
Many expected the Steelers to target a quarterback with the 21st pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, but they instead opted to address the backfield with running back Kaleb Johnson. Khan eventually took Howard in the sixth round. Some scouts like Howard as a potential dark horse player of the draft class, but he is far from prepared to step in and start on day one.
If the Steelers enter training camp without another veteran signal-caller, they will be forced to pencil in Mason Rudolph as their starter. Few teams know how poor an idea that would be than Pittsburgh. Starting Rudolph would be more acceptable if a more promising rookie sat behind him, but Howard is not the type of prospect a team can build around.
The options are slim, but veterans Carson Wentz, Teddy Bridgewater, Desmond Ridder and Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley would all be fine signings. Pittsburgh appears to still believe in the Rodgers plan, but it will soon be back on the market for yet another bridge quarterback.
Steelers need to trade T.J. Watt
Steelers fans will not like it, but the time to sell-high on T.J. Watt has to be now. With no playoff victories in the last decade, Pittsburgh is already trapped in purgatory and is nowhere near title contention. Khan has been denying this move for a while, but ahead of Watt’s contract year, the rope has to be cut.
With 11.5 sacks in 2024, Watt is visibly still elite. But with his 31st birthday coming up at the end of the year, his athletic prime is quickly coming to a close. If he is anything like his older brother, that fall will hit nearly as hard as his rise. Khan tried to get an extension done earlier in the offseason, but following the Cleveland Browns’ recent desperate deal with Myles Garrett, the two sides have never been further apart.
There is no replacing Watt, but Pittsburgh is in the ideal scenario to part ways with its star edge rusher. They recently extended Alex Highsmith, who continues to make his case as the most underrated pass-rusher in the league. Third-year linebacker Nick Herbig continues to impress in a reserved role and is fully capable of taking on a larger role.
Unless the Steelers over-commit to Watt the way the Browns did with Garrett, the chapter is more than likely coming to a close. Khan needs to make the move before Watt outwardly requests a trade, and he loses any possible leverage.
Jaylen Warren should have a new team in 2025
Once Pittsburgh deals Watt, it must do the same with Jaylen Warren. Entering his fourth year, Warren is now the veteran of the backfield, but he is no longer a fit on the roster in Arthur Smith’s smash-mouth offense. The Steelers cleansed their plate by letting Najee Harris walk in free agency, and Warren should be next to go.
Without Harris, the Steelers made the right move by drafting Johnson, who should immediately slot into the starting lineup. Warren has the experience and familiarity, but at 5-foot-8, he is not the type of runner Smith favors in his system. With one year remaining on his rookie deal, Khan has to move the versatile Warren or risk losing him in the 2026 offseason for nothing.
As Harris struggled during his Steelers tenure, Warren looked like the perfect change-of-pace counterpart. But after notching 784 rushing yards on 5.3 yards per carry in 2023, he took a massive step back under Smith in 2024, mustering just 511 yards on 4.3 yards per attempt. The statistical stepback appeared to have more to do with his lack of fit in the offense than anything else.
After acquiring Metcalf, the Steelers could stand to gain back some draft capital they relinquished over the past couple of years. Trading Warren, who nearly every offensive coordinator would value as a third-down back, would accomplish that.
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