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The Pittsburgh Steelers regular season is now in the books, and scenarios are being bandied about for who the team will name as the potential successor to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
While Roethlisberger has not uttered the R-word, if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. And I’m not talking Devlin Hodges. Roethlisberger is a postseason away from retirement, and everyone has an opinion on who the Steelers should hand the reins to.
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay predicts that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Gardner Minshew will find a home in Pittsburgh next season.
Here’s what Kay wrote about Minshew, one of five trade scenarios he floated:
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“Gardner Minshew has performed well as a spot starter during stops in Jacksonville and Philadelphia, but the 2019 sixth-rounder may be on the move again as teams try to unearth a potential long-term starter this offseason.
It’s possible that Minshew remains in Pennsylvania even if his time in the City of Brotherly Love comes to an end. Minshew could head west to Pittsburgh, where he would join a Steelers organization preparing to move on from longtime quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Pittsburgh doesn’t have a viable succession plan in place, as backups Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins have both failed to show they could be a long-term solution under center.”
How Much is That QB in the Window?
Unfortunately, the Steelers wouldn’t have much to offer in return for the Eagles hot target quarterback. Looking at Pro Sports Transactions, Pittsburgh only has five picks and a conditional in the upcoming 2022 NFL draft.
The Steelers traded away their 2022 fourth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for their 2021 fifth-round pick and selected defensive tackle Isaiahh Loudermilk. In 2020, the Steelers swapped their fifth-rounder for the Jets seventh-rounder and linebacker Avery Williamson who is no longer on the team.
Linebacker Melvin Ingram only fetched a conditional sixth-round draft pick when the Steelers decided they had enough of his moaning.
Kay believes that since the Eagles are flush with draft selections in 2022, “flipping a 2023 fourth-rounder for Minshew could get this deal done.”
Steelers Options
The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback situation will be something to watch in the upcoming months, and the team has a myriad of routes they could take. Trading for an experienced signal-caller like Gardner Minshew — who won’t break the bank — is one of them. While his success has been brief, Minshew is just 25 and clearly wants to lead a team.
Signing a free agent is another option. From Marcus Mariota to Jameis Winston, there will be a handful of mid-tier quarterbacks on the free-agent market come March.
The Steelers could also take a flier on a quarterback in the draft. But while there’s still a long way to go in the pre-draft process, no one player has stood out as a clear top option in the 2022 draft class. For as many holes as Pittsburgh has to fill this offseason, risking a pick on a ho-hum quarterback doesn’t seem to be the way to go.
Last but not least, the Steelers could simply promote from within. Rudolph hasn’t shown to be the quarterback of Pittsburgh’s future, but he knows the system and has shown he can win some games.
Bringing a fresh face to compete with Rudolph could be exactly what this franchise needs while they wait out the future.