Steelers' Price For Mason Rudolph Could Increase Because Of The "Bad History" With The Organization

The Pittsburgh Steelers as an organization have been quite clear in the fact that they want to keep Mason Rudolph in Black and Gold in 2024. Both Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Team President Art Rooney II have expressed as such. Recently, Rudolph appeared on a former teammate, Ramon Foster's podcast, and said he would like to stay with the Steelers. However, we all know it is not that simple. One of the biggest looming questions is does Rudolph trust the organization to do what they say they are going to do?

Rudolph has been with the Steelers since they drafted him in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent most of that time backing up Ben Roethlisberger. Since Roethlisberger was on the back end of his career, Rudolph filled in for him quite often when he was injured. During that time, he was not terribly successful under center, he was even benched in favor of Devlin "Duck" Hodges at one point. 

But all of that changed in Week 16 of the 2023 season when Head Coach Mike Tomlin decided to bench backup Mitch Trubisky, who was in for injured starter Kenny Pickett, and gave Rudolph a shot. Rudolph went 3-0 to close out the season and helped get the Steelers a shot at the postseason.  

Will The Steelers Pay More To Make Up With Mason Rudolph?

Rudolph's success at the end of the season has caused a quarterback controversy in Pittsburgh. There were already many who felt Pickett didn't have what it took to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. This has folks wondering what else the team would even need to see. Would they have Pickett and Rudolph battle it out during camp next year for the starting job? 

Former Steelers linebacker, Arthur Moats thinks the Steelers need to handle the situation carefully. Moats now co-hosts a podcast called The Arthur Moats Experience and knows Rudolph well. While their playing careers missed each other by a year, Moats does media work for the team.

During his show, Moats said that Tomlin and Rooney can say they want Rudolph back, but they are going to have to put their literal money where their mouth is. There is also the possibility that the team will consider drafting or picking up a quarterback in free agency. 

"Unless those numbers are what they're supposed to be, bro we know they have a bad history of doing Mason dirty, or just not giving him a fair shake in it. That's my only thing, regardless of whether it was justified or not, that's a different conversation. But in terms of where we currently stand, there isn't a lot of trust from Mason that the organization would legitimately give him a fair shot, unless they had to give him some type of financial commitment up front."

Moats believes that the longer the negotiations take, the better it is for Rudolph. It will allow other teams the opportunity to talk to him. He said from his experiences negotiating contracts with Pittsburgh, the front office will try to get it done quickly before other teams can make offers. The longer it takes, the more time Rudolph's agent will have to talk to teams about why they want to select him over drafting a rookie or another free agent. 

Many believe that Rudolph wasn't given a fair shot by the team. When he was drafted, it was because Roethlisberger had said he was toying with the idea of retiring, so there was hope Rudolph would be the heir apparent after having time to develop behind the veteran. But Roethlisberger and Rudolph were like oil and water and that time to learn behind him didn't happen regardless of the reasons. 

"If you're true about wanting him back, I don't think you can disrespect him with that initial offer either. That's the other part of this. Typically, they like to disrespect you on the first one. I just think because of the history, you can't come off the deep end with the disrespect at first, but they be trying it. I'm telling you, that first one they give you, that first offer they send over, that's the one you be like, 'Bro, ain't no way you just did that.' It's definitely going to be interesting."

With the news breaking that the Steelers have decided to hire former Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator, it will be interesting to see how that impacts both the decision and the process. 

Moats believes that the organization is genuine in their wish to bring Rudolph back, but he added that the comment was also done in the very typical, political way that the Steelers handle things like this. Rooney, and Tomlin for that matter, both want to seem moderate. They want to ensure they do not anger or insult Rudolph, but they also do not want to anger or insult Pickett, whom they have said they still have faith in. 

What do you think about what Moats said? Do you think the Steelers need to come up with an initial strong offer to show they value Rudolph? Click to comment below. 

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