With the football world already having the answer they were waiting for on Mike Tomlin’s future with the Pittsburgh Steelers, there is one more big question fans are waiting for an answer to.
Who will be the Steelers’ quarterback in 2024?
They finished the 2023 season with Mason Rudolph at quarterback, but he is heading for free agency. Kenny Pickett is still going to be in the mix heading into his third year in the league.
Former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky thinks they need to start making calls about bringing in an upgrade at the position.
During an appearance on ESPN’s NFL Live (via 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi), Orlovsky said that the Steelers should be calling about Kirk Cousins, Justin Fields, and Baker Mayfield.
A Team That Needs a QB
Right now, the Steelers really only have one starting QB option on their roster.
With Rudolph heading for free agency, the team is left with Pickett and Mitch Trubisky.
Trubisky shouldn’t be on the team by the end of the offseason, leaving just Pickett.
Rudolph could be brought back, but he might cost too much if the Steelers only see him as a backup.
That leaves Pickett, whose struggles in the first two seasons of his career are no secret.
The fact that he has only played for two seasons means that there is still hope Pickett can develop into a dependable QB for the Steelers, but he hasn’t proven it yet.
If the Steelers have aspirations of ending their losing streak in the playoffs during the 2024 season, they’d be taking a pretty big risk by not bringing in somebody more proven than Pickett.
Best Fit for the Steelers
Of the three QBs on Orlovsky’s list, Mayfield would be the best option for the Steelers.
Cousins comes with some major risks. He is 35 years old and coming off of an achilles tear.
There is no guarantee that he’d be ready for the start of the 2024 season and there’s a chance that he might not be the same QB when he returns.
Fields is an interesting option. He has improved as a passer in each of his NFL seasons, setting career highs in completion percentage and passing yards in 2023.
However, he would be the most costly for the Steelers. They would have to trade for Fields and the Bears would be looking to at least get Pittsburgh’s second rounder plus another later pick if not more.
He also becomes much more expensive in 2025 and isn’t under contract after that year.
The most interesting option for Pittsburgh is Mayfield.
After turning around the Cleveland Browns franchise by his third year in the NFL, Mayfield hit a rough patch.
He struggled through a shoulder injury with the Browns and got traded. Then he got released by the Panthers before his first season with the team was up.
After that, he got a chance with the Rams and started to fix things.
In 2023, he has completely resurrected his career. He set career highs in completion percentage and passing yards. He threw 28 touchdown passes while leading the Bucs to the NFC South title.
Mayfield could be the piece the Steelers are missing. He has proven he can be the QB for a winning team. The former Browns QB has already gotten used to playing in the AFC North. He would have plenty of weapons with George Pickens, Diontae Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, and a better run game than he has in Tampa.
He won’t be cheap. He’ll be making a lot more money than he did in 2023 and the Steelers would probably need to outbid the Bucs for him.
Still, the Steelers could be a very interesting team in 2024 if they add Mayfield.
Whether it’s one of these three quarterbacks or Russell Wilson, they should at least be taking a look at outside options for the 2024 season.
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Former NFL Quarterback Believes Steelers Need to Call About 3 QBs in Offseason