But with Ben Roethlisberger expected to announce his retirement,
there suddenly is plenty of uncertainty over the team's
quarterback position.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday the team will consider a
variety of options in which to find their new starting
quarterback. Tomlin said he and general manager Kevin Colbert
will discuss whether to proceed forward with an internal option,
acquire a signal-caller via trade or free agency or select one
in the NFL draft.
"All options are on the table," Tomlin said during a media
briefing two days after Pittsburgh's season ended with a 42-21
loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in an AFC wild-card game. "I
enjoy working with Kevin this time of year because we speak
plain English. We have to improve our football team. There's two
major ways you do it. You do it to free agency, and you do it
through the draft.
"We have to look at what's available to us in the draft
positionally. And we have to look at what's available to us,
potentially, in free agency, positionally, and then we kind of
bring those two discussions together. And it kind of gives us a
path in which to go about addressing our needs."
Replacing a future Hall of Famer like the 39-year-old
Roethlisberger doesn't seem insurmountable to Tomlin.
"I'm excited about that -- that challenge," Tomlin said. "Those
of us that are competitors are. It's a challenge, man. It kind
of makes you uneasy. But I've learned to run to those
challenges. I've learned to appreciate those challenges. The
uncertainty surrounding them is inspiring to me in terms of
producing work."
One veteran quarterback who may be available via trade is
Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. Quarterbacks who could
become free agents include Jameis Winston, Teddy Bridgewater,
Andy Dalton and Nick Foles.
The internal options are Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins.
Rudolph is 5-4-1 in 10 starts over the past three seasons. Eight
of those starts came in 2019 after Roethlisberger sustained a
season-ending elbow injury. Rudolph passed for 1,765 yards, 13
touchdowns and nine interceptions that year.
Haskins didn't see any action for the Steelers this season. He
went 3-10 as a starter over the previous two seasons for
Washington before being released late in the 2020 campaign. He
passed for 2,804 yards, 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
"Mason and Dwayne have had their moments, but they'll have to
prove that," Tomlin said about the possibility one of them could
be the team's next starter. "And not only in the team
development process but through playing itself. They're guys
that start that I wouldn't characterize as every-day starters.
And so they'll be given an opportunity to establish themselves,
and there's going to be competition. There always is.
"I think that both guys have positioned themselves to fight that
fight with what they've done from a work standpoint and a
professionalism standpoint in 2021."
--Field Level Media
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