The Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into this upcoming season with another new face at quarterback. The team decided to end the Kenny Pickett experiment and cut their losses as General Manager Omar Khan traded Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles. We don't know if the newly acquired Russell Wilson will spend more than a year in the Steel City. If he wins games and looks like his past self, then we could see him get re-signed. If Wilson plays how he did in Denver and the Steelers miss the playoffs, then the front office might decide not to re-sign the 35 year old veteran and move on.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Russell Wilson throws a pass during mandatory minicamp in 2024.
The Steelers haven't had a losing season since 2003, it's talked about frequently. Is it an important statistic if you aren't winning Super Bowls? Well, it's certainly impressive, and no other franchise can say that they haven't had at least one losing season over that time frame. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger never had a losing season in his 18-year career and the Steelers just kept that streak alive in the last two seasons after he retired. If Pickett wasn't good enough to be the team's quarterback of the future, then Wilson will more than likely have to at least match last season's win total in order to stay in Pittsburgh.
Geoff Schwartz joined Dave Dameshek on the Minus Three Podcast and talked about the potential of Pittsburgh drafting their next franchise quarterback if things don't go well this upcoming season.
"The Steelers have to, and maybe if they finish under .500, they sort of just rip the Band-Aid off and say, we need to find a quarterback," said Schwartz. "We have to trade up and get that quarterback."
There are a lot of variables when talking about the future of the quarterback position in Pittsburgh, but drafting a quarterback isn't completely out of the question. Wilson could perform well and get brought back, or if the Steelers see something in Justin Fields that they like and want to see more of, then he could be re-signed next offseason and given an opportunity to make his case for the team's next franchise quarterback.
Sebastian Foltz / Post-Gazette
Quarterbacks Justin Fields (#2) and Russell Wilson (#3) during the Pittsburgh Steelers' 2024 OTAs.
The Steelers Don't Have Any Quarterbacks Under Contract Past 2024
Wilson, Fields and Kyle Allen are all set to become unrestricted free agents in the 2025 offseason. If the Steelers finish below .500 or even just miss the playoffs, we could still see any of those three quarterbacks back in the Steel City for the 2025 season, but it might be time for Khan to set his sights on the NFL Draft to find his next franchise quarterback.
Winning in the NFL without a franchise quarterback is extremely difficult. The rest of the roster has to be loaded with talent, which you could argue the Steelers are, but they'd have to find ways to keep up with other teams with true franchise quarterbacks, like the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals -- which is a lot easier said than done.
Things would have to go very wrong this season for the Steelers to be in a position to draft one of the top quarterbacks in next year's draft without trading up. As of right now, Carson Beck and Quinn Ewers are the top quarterbacks in the 2025 draft class. If Khan believes that one of those guys has the potential to be a franchise quarterback in the Steel City, he'll have to give up quite a bit to land one of them.
Joshua L. Jones / Online Athens
Georgia star quarterback Carson Beck throwing the football during a game.
Obviously, the best case scenario is that the Steelers have a successful season and their quarterback of the future is already on the roster. If 2024 ends up being an underwhelming season for Pittsburgh, then we might be paying a lot of attention to potential first round quarterbacks next offseason.
Do you think the Steelers will draft a quarterback in 2025 if they finish below .500? Let us know in the comments below!
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