The Steelers have told quarterback Dwayne Haskins that they will be placing a restricted free-agent tender on him, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com. This jibes with a report from last week indicating that both Haskins and Mason Rudolph would be retained and given the chance to compete for the starting QB job in Year 1 of the post-Ben Roethlisberger era.
Haskins, of course, was a first-round pick of Washington in 2019, a selection that was not endorsed by then-head coach Jay Gruden but that was reportedly pushed by owner Dan Snyder and then-team president Bruce Allen. In 16 total games with WFT (13 stars), Haskins failed to impress, and his on-field struggles were exacerbated by poor off-field decision-making. A particularly rough outing in Week 16 of the 2020 season triggered his release, and he hooked on with Pittsburgh in January 2021.
Although Haskins did not see any regular-season action in the 2021 campaign, he made a favorable impression on Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Pittsburgh is not expected to acquire an elite veteran QB this offseason, and while a trade for a player like Jimmy Garoppolo or Teddy Bridgewater probably can’t be ruled out, Haskins and his cannon of a right arm would seem to have a good chance to take over as QB1 if the only competition is Rudolph and a rookie passer.
Plus, as a rare first-round pick who becomes a restricted free agent, Haskins can be retained fairly cheaply. The Steelers can put the original-round tender on him for about $2.5M — roughly half of the first-round tender — but because Haskins’ original round is, in fact, the first round, any other team that wants to sign him would have to give up a first-round choice to Pittsburgh to do so.
That obviously is not going to happen, so Haskins will remain with the Steelers with a real chance to start living up to his vast potential.
More must-reads: