The cold, hard reality of the NFL is that it’s hard to have sustained success without a franchise quarterback. And no, we aren’t talking about just going 9-8 every season. If you want to win multiple playoff games each season and actually contend for a Super Bowl, you need to have a quarterback who can elevate the talent around them in the biggest moments. That’s not something the Pittsburgh Steelers have had in a long time.
Pittsburgh has tried just about everything to solve that issue, including drafting a quarterback in Round 1 (Kenny Pickett), taking shots on former first-round picks (Justin Fields, Mitchell Trubisky), and signing two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks who were well past their prime (Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers).