The Pittsburgh Steelers had a chance to finally break their playoff losing streak last season. However, they fell woefully short again, getting blown out by the Houston Texans. While the Steelers won the AFC North for the first time since 2020, it was more of the same for them in the postseason. Despite Mike Tomlin stepping down, they’re still committed to winning. That’s evident in the offseason moves they’ve made. Sam Monson is almost willing to name the Steelers as one of the NFL teams that had the best offseason, but one thing is holding him back.
“If the Steelers had any solution at quarterback, I would throw Pittsburgh in there as well,” Monson said Thursday on his Check the Mic podcast. “I think outside of the fact that they might not have a starting quarterback, I think Pittsburgh has had a really good offseason.”
It’s hard to say that the Steelers haven’t improve this offseason, outside of their quarterback issues. They’ve addressed most of their glaring weaknesses, adding players like Michael Pittman Jr., Rico Dowdle, and Jamel Dean. All of them are veterans at positions of need for Pittsburgh.
Also, the Steelers had a lot of draft capital, which allowed them to infuse their roster with youth. They added an offensive tackle with a lot of potential in Max Iheanachor in the first round. Then they filled out the depth in their receiver room in the second round by selecting Germie Bernard.
However, perhaps the Steelers draft pick who has received the most attention is Drew Allar. Pittsburgh took him in the third round, and he’s gifted physically. Allar had arguably the strongest arm of any quarterback in this year’s draft. While he has flaws, if the Steelers can develop him, he could solve their quarterback problem.
The Steelers are still pursuing Aaron Rodgers, though, so Allar might need to wait a year to see the field. However, on that same podcast, Steve Palazzolo urged the Steelers to forget about Rodgers and stick with their current quarterback room for 2026.
“The fact that Rodgers is going to be their starter, I think it’s time to just rip the Band-Aid,” Palazzolo said. “Rip the Band-Aid and go with Will Howard and Drew Allar competing and see what happens. Mason Rudolph. Just do it for a year, see what happens.”
It’s easy to say that the Steelers should move on from Rodgers and give Howard or Allar a shot at starting. However, that isn’t the direction that the Steelers want to go in. They want to continue competing for a championship. At this point, it wouldn’t make sense for them to pivot, at least for this season.
Also, if the Steelers actually win a playoff game with Rodgers this season, then he’ll have been worth the wait.
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