There's nothing more important in football than having a franchise quarterback. These highly-coveted signal-callers can carry the team on their shoulders, bring perennial playoff success, and even usher in a Lombardi Trophy. The Pittsburgh Steelers once had this with Ben Roethlisberger. Now they are stuck in quarterback purgatory.
Over the past three seasons, the Steelers have deployed five starting quarterbacks. Unfortunately, the results have been underwhelming with every option.
Pittsburgh pigeonholed themselves into selecting Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft only to discover he didn't have the tools and poise it takes to succeed in this league. The Steelers also experimented with Mitch Trubisky, Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields, and Russell Wilson.
Collectively, these quarterbacks were good enough to keep this team afloat—continuing Mike Tomlin's streak of never having a losing season. But nobody viewed the Steelers as threats during this time.
The answer to their problems is evident: the Steelers need a franchise quarterback. Unfortunately, finding one is much easier said than done. Based on what we've seen around the league in recent years, there are only two avenues to landing a franchise QB... and both will come at a cost.
1. Trade-up for a quarterback in the NFL Draft
The first option is to get aggressive and trade up in the NFL Draft. This requires the team to part with valuable draft capital and—depending on how they move up in the first round—we could be talking about multiple first-round picks.
While Mike Tomlin was quick to point out in his post-season presser that Lamar Jackson was a late-first-rounder and Jalen Hurts was a second-round pick, these are outliers that are rare exceptions to the evidence.
Knowing the Steelers typically pick in the early 20s, this team must be willing to part with elite draft capital—likely to move inside the top 10. Kevin Colbert's front office was willing to move inside the top 10 for an off-ball linebacker in 2019 (Devin Bush), so Omar Khan and Andy Weidl better be willing to move up for a quarterback.
Standing pat and taking whatever quarterback falls to the Steelers is a poor method. While it worked for them back in 2004 with Roethlisberger, they already held the 11th overall pick and Pittsburgh lucked into a Roethlisberger (who was the third QB off the board).
I'm not saying the 2025 draft class has franchise QB options worth mortgaging the future for, but this team soon needs to take a stab at a major trade-up for an excellent quarterback prospect with all the tools and pedigree to succeed in the NFL—even if it cost them a king's ransom.
2. Have a down season to get a high draft pick
The second option will not be a popular choice among the Steelers fanbase. As much it pains us to hear it, Pittsburgh could find themselves in a position to land a franchise quarterback in the NFL Draft if they were to have a down season.
This is not a desirable choice for obvious reasons, as fans want to believe their team has a chance to compete for a Super Bowl title every year. But those who have been paying attention know that it takes more than an entry into the playoffs to make that happen. You won't go far without a competent quarterback, and that's the biggest problem Pittsburgh is facing right now.
Biting the bullet and suffering through one bad season could put the Steelers in a prime position to select a franchise quarterback for the NFL Draft. And if a trade-up was still required to get the player they wanted, moving up a few picks wouldn't cost nearly as much as moving up from the back half of the draft.
We've witnessed how quickly franchises like the Cincinnati Bengals, Washington Commanders, and Houston Texans turned dumpster fire franchises around simply by landing a franchise quarterback. While they aren't guaranteed to hit on the QB they draft, one bad season could be all it takes to land another franchise quarterback who can lead the Steelers for a decade plus.
Every other option for acquiring quarterbacks falls short
As much as we would love to believe that the Pittsburgh Steelers can continue streaming quarterbacks and still find playoff success, this isn't going to happen. There's a reason why players like Justin Fields and Russell Wilson were available in the first place. Their teams either found better options or knew their QB wasn't good enough.
Occasionally, a team will get lucky with a quarterback streaming option like Baker Mayfield, but this is rare. In most cases, streaming options are no more than serviceable stop-gap starters that must be upgraded shortly after their arrival. This is exactly what we saw with Wilson and Kirk Cousins in 2024. Teams are never going to give up on anyone they believe is a franchise QB.
The same can be said about trading for a quarterback. We've seen enough evidence now to know that the reward does not outweigh the risk. We've seen this in recent years with Deshaun Watson, Aaron Rodgers, and Russell Wilson.
Not only must teams stomach the blow of giving up elite draft capital for a player who has fallen out of favor with their team, but they must also fork up and dish out huge contracts to these quarterbacks acquired via trade.
At the end of the day, there are only two options that lead to a franchise quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers: have a poor season and draft one early or fork up a lofty trade package to move up for a QB in the NFL Draft. Everything else will fall short.