We’re already nearing the end of the first quarter of the 2025 NFL regular season. Aaron Rodgers’ first and likely only season as the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is blazing by. And, with that in mind, it won’t be long before the Steelers will have to find his replacement.
Most Steelers fans expect that decision to be made on draft night next April in Pittsburgh. General manager Omar Khan has plenty of ammunition to go up and get his guy as long as he isn’t poised to be the top selection. But he didn’t get the nickname Khan-artist because of his drafting ability, not that it’s an obvious weakness.
He got that nickname for his trades, and with so many teams giving up on first-rounders only for those same quarterbacks to excel elsewhere, no one should be surprised if Khan parts with some draft capital to land his next answer at quarterback. Well, unless it’s for one particular option that fits the mold of that scenario, especially after Mike Tomlin’s recent comments.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans can take Mike Tomlin’s comments as a hint on how the team views Anthony Richardson
While previewing this week’s international contest against the Minnesota Vikings and backup quarterback Carson Wentz, Tomlin threw some shade at a player many pegged as a future Steeler, Anthony Richardson.
"I don't necessarily view it as a negative thing for the Minnesota Vikings, at least in the short term, that Carson is playing for them,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “We were in a similar situation a year ago; we were playing in Indianapolis. Man, and I commented to the guys, 'Keep Richardson upright. Don't put [Joe] Flacco in the game."
Richardson didn’t finish the game, as has been the case each time he’s started against Pittsburgh, and Flacco came in and got the win for Indianapolis. Of course, Tomlin is quite familiar with Flacco and respects veterans nearly to a fault, so his comments were clearly more to praise veterans like Flacco and Wentz than to tarnish Richardson.
However, it’s not as though Tomlin wasn’t leaning on Richardson’s inexperience, propensity to make mistakes, and his injury-prone history all in one go to make his point, too.
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Many see Richardson’s situation and liken his potential future to the quarterbacks who failed early as top picks and moved on to find success elsewhere. Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith, and Sam Darnold led the charge, and now even Richardson is bearing the brunt of that situation with Daniel Jones in front of him on the depth chart in Indy.
But, because of Pittsburgh’s quarterback situation, where they will need someone new within the next year (or two), Richardson, from a positive viewpoint, has everything Mike Tomlin could ask for in a quarterback: size, arm strength, and dynamic running ability. He lacks experience, and his toughness is in question, both of which are situations that can be handled properly in the right environment, an environment NFL fans would expect Pittsburgh to foster.
All of that reasoning points to the trade buzz that circulated after Richardson was formally benched for Jones.
It’s probably fair to not completely discount the idea of Richardson being a Steeler in the not-too-distant future. Still, this bit of shade thrown by Tomin would certainly be brought up if it ever comes to that.