The Pittsburgh Steelers and Omar Khan are embarking on a new chapter for the franchise in 2022. Ben Roethlisberger provided the Steelers with elite quarterback play for most of the last two decades and the franchise paid him handsomely to do it. Roethlisberger for most of his career was the highest paid quarterback in the AFC North. Baltimore Ravens quarterback, Joe Flacco did briefly eclipse him after his fantastic Super Bowl run culminating in a victory over Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers.
Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis celebrate their Super Bowl XL victory over the Seattle Seahawks. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
The arms race of the AFC North was dominated by Roethlisberger who posted a career record of 71-24-1 against the division. He earned a little over $260 million dollars in the process making him both the winningest and the highest paid quarterback in the division’s history heading into 2022. Today’s NFL salaries are totally different than even half a decade ago, but Roethlisberger’s seemingly high price tag is about to seem like a bargain.
The off-season began with a bang when the Cleveland Browns signed Deshaun Watson, despite the potential of a lengthy suspension, to an NFL record $230 million dollar fully guaranteed contract. The Browns were willing to swing big despite the risk in signing Watson and his tantalizing talent and reset the NFL quarterback market for years to come. Perhaps it was on purpose based on the presence of the emerging superstar in Cincinnati, Joe Burrow, and the enigmatic former MVP in Baltimore, Lamar Jackson.
Taking a page from these United States of America’s strategy that ended the Cold War, the Browns committed to forcing the division to spend itself into oblivion. The market changed again with Kyler Murray’s extension, which is also worth more than $230 million dollars with $160 million dollars in guarantees, and reinforces that the remainder of the NFL will not be left behind as the quarterback market is reset. Murray’s guaranteed money lags behind Watson, but his annual salary, which he seems likely to earn over the life of the contract, is $46.1 million dollars, which is slightly higher than the Browns' new quarterback.
Just one season ago, it seemed incomprehensible that the Kansas City Chiefs star, Patrick Mahomes' annual $45 million dollar salary would be eclipsed. He was after all the best quarterback in the NFL and the Buffalo Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, accepted a little less at $43 million dollars because after all, he was not Mahomes. Eight quarterbacks are slated to make more than $40 million dollars in 2022 and Jackson, Burrow and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers are likely to join them sooner rather than later.
Mahomes and Allen are now the fourth and fifth highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL and after the aforementioned trio are done negotiating, they are likely to find themselves outside of the top five at their positions in salary.
Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers are locked in to paying Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett roughly $40 million dollars over the next two seasons. If Pickett replaces Trubisky heading into the 2024 season, he will likely earn 25 to 30 percent of what the other quarterbacks in the AFC North are going to be paid. Paying an elite signal-caller a significant portion of your salary cap has rarely led to a Super Bowl victory. Partially because Tom Brady notoriously took less than his market value for the New England Patriots and because teams like the Seattle Seahawks quickly fell from Super Bowl contention once they paid the franchise quarterbacks going rates.
Trubisky should play slightly above his Chicago Bears level of production, which is a reasonable expectation, while Pickett develops his game. The Steelers can afford to spend more money for free agents that fit the Steelers plan over the next two seasons. The division foe’s salary cap will be so tied up with elite quarterbacks that they will be forced into difficult decisions. They will have to decide between; and part with an elite talent because if you are paying your quarterback 20 percent of your salary cap, you just cannot pay everyone.
The NFL was once a league dominated by running backs and defense, but it evolved into a quarterback-driven league over the last 35 years. The position has been glamorized to the point that the old school philosophy of Woody Hayes is long forgotten. Hayes famously postulated:
"There are only three things that can happen on a pass, and two of them are bad."
Associated Press
The NFL is unlikely to return to throwing the ball less than 20 times per week, fantasy football owners would lose their minds. However, unless the NFL evolves into a luxury tax model like the NBA, the current hard cap is going to force decisions about being a complete team who wins with their quarterback, or a hopelessly unbalanced team that wins because of their quarterback. Either that or the rookie quarterback window will continue to get signal-callers paid and doom their teams to be just good enough to make the playoffs, but not quite good enough to win it all.
The latter model should sound familiar because since 2011, the Steelers have been that team. The black and gold for the next few seasons can either prove that they learned the lessons of the past and give Mike Tomlin deep, balanced teams that can win in a variety of ways, but occasionally will be outclassed in a shootout, or develop Pickett into a franchise quarterback and rely on him as heavily as they did Roethlisberger and hope his first few seasons delivers another Lombardi Trophy.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Should the Steelers strike out in a new direction, or join the arms race? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
