The regular season comes with watching many guys get injured as the Pittsburgh Steelers learned on Sunday. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year and the heart and soul of the defense, TJ Watt exited with a potential season-ending pectoral injury. The Dallas Cowboys got hit with the injury bug as well on Sunday evening as quarterback, Dak Prescott left the game with a thumb injury. He is set to have surgery this week and will be out anywhere from six to eight weeks. There is a certain someone on the Steelers roster who may be keeping an eye on the situation and that would be third-string signal-caller, Mason Rudolph.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback, Mason Rudolph (#2) makes a throw at 2022 training camp at the team's South Side facility in Pittsburgh, PA. | Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Earlier this off-season, general manager, Omar Khan has been quoted saying that he doesn't expect to trade Rudolph, but that's because the potential situation and trade partner may not have made sense at that time. Cooper Rush is currently listed as Prescott's backup and has a career completion percentage of just above 60%, but only has one game started under his belt. Rudolph has played under a Hall of Fame quarterback the last four years and has a winning record as a starter going 5-4-1.
Will Grier is the practice squad quarterback in Dallas and after starting two games for the Carolina Panthers in 2019, has an 0-2 career record with zero touchdowns and four interceptions. The Cowboys had serious Super Bowl aspirations heading into the season and Rudolph could potentially step into a starting role and be more successful than Rush or Grier if given the chance.
The difficult part about this trade would be the draft compensation. Khan is comfortable with their quarterback situation and wants to avoid the uneasy experience they had back in 2019. The team traded Joshua Dobbs before the regular season opener and a couple weeks later, Ben Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending injury to his elbow. Mason Rudolph had some injuries as well, which led to Devlin Hodges manning the fort.
Oct 6, 2019; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Devlin Hodges (6) scrambles with the ball against the Baltimore Ravens during the third quarter at Heinz Field. The Ravens won in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
It makes sense why Khan and the coaching staff would want to keep Rudolph close by. He's familiar with the system, a great teammate and has never caused any issues while in Pittsburgh. With that said, football is a business and the Steelers draft capital for next year is far from encouraging. After their fourth round pick, they won't have a chance to take anyone until the seventh round.
A lot of people are pushing for the organization to trade Rudolph for a fourth-round pick, but that may not be all that reasonable. He is a free agent after this season and a team like the Cowboys would most likely rather give up nothing and hope to find a way to win with their current situation. If Rush were to go down with an injury in the middle of a game, however, Mike McCarthy's team could be in big trouble.
Dallas is set to have one selection in each of the seven rounds come April. The most realistic expectation and what the Steelers should shoot for is a fifth round pick to replenish the one they lost after trading for Ahkello Witherspoon a year ago and giving that pick to the Seattle Seahawks. The team lost their sixth round pick recently after trading for edge rusher, Malik Reed with the Denver Broncos. It's a good thing they did because of Watt's injury.
Pittsburgh Steelers newcomer, Malik Reed in black and gold for one of the first times after being traded to Pittsburgh from Denver. | Credit: Matt Freed / Post-Gazette
A deal that sends Rudolph and the seventh round pick the Steelers got from the Denver Broncos for a Cowboys' fifth round pick may be the best trade package and one both teams would be comfortable with accepting. We'll see if Jerry Jones reaches out to Khan at some point this week.
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Are the Cowboys the perfect trade partners for the Steelers to send Rudolph to? Let us know in the comments below!
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