The Pittsburgh Steelers have, for the last 18 years, been a bastion of consistency under head coach Mike Tomlin. With no losing seasons under Coach Tomlin, and even none since 2003 but only one Super Bowl victory, Steelers fans, players and media alike seem to be ready for a change.
One such person is Ryan Clark, who has noticed the relatively stronger quarterback class in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft as compared to the draft this past season.
Clark believes that the Steelers should tank in order to improve their draft position for the coming season, which is surely something Steelers fans and the front office are not used to.
On an episode of ESPN's Get Up, Clark spoke about his reasoning for the possible tank.
“They should want to lose,” Clark said. “I know this goes against everything that’s black and yellow. But they’ve been a competitive team for the entire time that Mike Tomlin has been there. But since Ben Roethlisberger got to like the last two or three years of his career, they were not a championship contender.”
The Steelers have been unable to win a playoff game since late into Roethlisberger's career, with their last win coming in 2016. Now, the Steelers are at a crossroads, with no strong option at quarterback and no set direction for the season to go. Despite making some strong selections in the draft, they were unable to address their most pressing need at quarterback and an impending Watt contract issue could have the team suffer.
Now, it is very unlikely that the Steelers will do anything outwardly that would seem like they are embracing tanking, but their lack of strong moves at the quarterback position certainly point towards it. Even Aaron Rodgers would be a stopgap, not a franchise leader.
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