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If you are old enough, you remember when the Pittsburgh Steelers were a true dynasty. I was young but I was there for those teams of the 1970s. It’s why I love football and why I love the Steelers. And no, those teams weren’t elite just because of Terry Bradshaw but I case could be made they wouldn’t have been elite without him.
Then we fast forward to the early 2000s and the era of Ben Roethlisberger. This is where many Steelers fans who are reading this found their love for the team. Things were great again. Not a dynasty but Roethlisberger brought Super Bowls to Pittsburgh and in this league that is the ultimate prize.
But there was a time in between. A stretch from 1983 until 2004, when things weren’t great. Not awful, like Cleveland Browns awful but pretty bad. Pittsburgh waded through a handful of mediocre quarterbacks during this stretch with the highlight being a trip to the Super Bowl led by Neil O’Donnell and a lowlight being that same game when O’Donnell cost them the win.
This era also brought Pittsburgh what I would consider the third-best quarterback in franchise history in Kordell Stewart. This example also perfectly illustrates the gap between Bradshaw/Roethlisberger and everyone else.
I bring all this up because it really feels like Pittsburgh is stumbling toward the doldrums again without a succession plan to replace Roethlisberger already in place.
As things stand right now there are really three ways this can do and frankly, none of them are great.
First, Pittsburgh goes into 2022 season with Mason Rudolph, Dwayne Haskins and Joshua Dobbs in a three-way race for the starting job. Obviously, Rudolph is the guy with the inside track for the job but this should not inspire confidence in any long-term success in today’s NFL.
Second, Pittsburgh could spend some of that extra salary cap they will have and bring in a veteran via either trade or free agency. This is where the rumors of Aaron Rodgers coming to Pittsburgh come in. This would be a stopgap measure but certainly, be more likely to bring some continued success until another plan can be made.
Finally, we have the 2022 NFL draft. This draft class isn’t elite but there are a handful of players who would at minimum be better than anyone in option one. We outlined some of those guys here.
This brings us to head coach Mike Tomlin and his legacy. Tomlin has been consistently successful as the leader of the Steelers but at this point, his legacy will be competitive but never elite. He was handed Roethlisberger and rode that success as far as he could. If he bungles this transition it’s going to drive his legacy down.
But I want to pass the question off to all of you. What will the Steelers do to move from life after Roethlisberger and will it work? Let us know in the comments.
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