Read Also ………………………………………..
The Steelers Examined Several QB Options Before Signing Wilson and Fields
Every quarterback who had been on the team left Pittsburgh last month, and every quarterback who is still on the team did not play for the Steelers the previous season. The Steelers’ quarterback room saw a total makeover. Although it appears that Pittsburgh made the most out of a difficult circumstance, Brooke Pryor of ESPN says that things could have gone quite differently.
The quarterback problem that followed last season was the unfortunate circumstance mentioned above. Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett, two former first-round picks who were not living up to their draft status, were struggling, and their only chance was to ride with the hot-handed Mason Rudolph, a free agent who they had never really trusted.
With Trubisky’s release, the remodeling got underway. Trubisky went back to Buffalo to back up Josh Allen. Then, despite promises that he would challenge Pickett for the starting job, things really got out of hand when Pittsburgh signed Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson. Wilson would probably step in as the new starter.
Rudolph decided not to re-sign with the Titans after realizing his prospects of landing a starting position were shrinking. Pickett also requested a trade, which the Steelers complied with by sending him to Philadelphia to support Jalen Hurts, after seeing the writing was on the wall. Ultimately, the Steelers signed seasoned backup quarterback Kyle Allen and acquired the once divisive quarterback Justin Fields from the Bears to finish up their room.
Without spending a lot of money to acquire it, they transformed a room that seemed to have a very low floor and an uncertain ceiling into one with a lot of potential for the future and demonstrated experience. However, the group considered a few other choices before deciding that Wilson would be their best option going ahead.
With Pickett in charge of a play-action, run-heavy system, Pittsburgh felt confident going forward, especially after appointing former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith as their offensive coordinator. Smith had successfully implemented that offensive scheme with Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee. With the seasoned quarterback entering free agency this offseason, the team even considered getting Tannehill and Smith back together. In addition, they tried out new Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins before determining he was too expensive.
Before making the trade for Fields, they also came dangerously close to acting on a second backup option. According to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, the Steelers had a good chance of signing Tyler Huntley, the new backup quarterback for the Browns. The Steelers, who were a division foe both before and after Huntley’s new contract, had seen Huntley in four of his nine career starts and were obviously impressed. Despite being the odd man out with Fields now in the fold, Huntley decided to stay in the AFC North.
The Steelers are well-positioned to field an offense with Wilson and Fields in 2024, as opposed to going with Tannehill or Cousins and Huntley. They definitely researched a number of possibilities, but following a difficult 2023 season in which they had to bench Rudolph, Trubisky, and Pickett, they arrived at what might have been the best-case scenario.