Analyst Offers Wild Plan for Steelers Offseason

The Pittsburgh Steelers remain in quarterback purgatory, even after signing veteran Aaron Rodgers. Given the prevalence of a franchise quarterback with nearly every Super Bowl competitor, it’s understandable that for some, the position comes before anything else.

That’s just not how the Steelers operate. In signing Rodgers (and pursuing him for much of the offseason), Pittsburgh is feigning competitiveness and hoping to improve upon last season’s one-and-done playoff cameo.

To an extent, it’s frustrating for a fanbase that misses the days of prime Ben Roethlisberger. But consistency is in this organization’s DNA, and it permeates seemingly every move.

Perhaps that’s what makes Nick Wright’s plan for the Steelers' offseason seem so wild. On “The Herd,” he shared his view on what Pittsburgh should have done.

"I would've taken a totally different tactic this offseason," Wright said. "I wouldn't have traded for DK Metcalf. I still would've traded away George Pickens. And I would've, as we are now seeing with T.J. Watt wanting a new contract, I would've traded T.J. Watt to get a first-round pick and something else. And I would've said, ‘Mason Rudolph, you're the man.’"

The Steelers would win fewer games in Wright’s world than the one where general manager Omar Khan is calling the shots. That’s not an accident. Wright’s plan would be a pivot to a rebuild, an act of bottoming out in search of a top pick.

No team entering a season with Rudolph under center and no above-average receiver is intent on winning games. Wright’s calculus is that ending Mike Tomlin’s non-losing-season streak and enduring double-digit losses would be worth it because of the quarterback at the end of the road.

He might be right, especially if Pittsburgh’s play for 2026 draft capital doesn’t turn itself into a promising prospect under center.

However, that’s not the reality for a Steelers team obsessed with maximizing its competitiveness in every season, no matter how long the odds are for a Super Bowl. With Rodgers under center, Pittsburgh is marginally more potent than it was a season ago, but still a few steps behind the best teams in the conference.

That’s a world the Steelers are willing to live in, with the hopes that when they do finally find a quarterback, they’ll immediately be positioned to compete. Until that day arrives, there will be a disconnect between those removed from the consequences of wins and losses and the ones with their jobs on the line.