How Steelers reworked their quarterback room in 13 days

ORLANDO, Fla. — Omar Khan sat on a sectional sofa within the glow of a sunny late March afternoon and answered reporters’ questions. The Pittsburgh Steelers common supervisor appeared relaxed. 4 weeks earlier in Indianapolis, standing earlier than the identical group of reporters, Khan had appeared tense, reserved.

It was Feb. 29 when Khan was requested by the media assembled for the NFL mix about his group’s 2024 quarterback choices. At that second, Kenny Pickett was the one quarterback on the Steelers’ roster. Khan expressed “full religion” within the 2022 first-round decide.

Twenty-seven days later, as Khan sat on a terrace on the Ritz-Carlton for the league’s annual conferences, Pickett was gone, traded to Philadelphia the place he’ll function the backup. 9-time Professional Bowler Russell Wilson and promising 2021 first-round draft alternative Justin Fields have been now the Steelers’ quarterbacks. Khan grinned.

“When you would’ve informed me a month in the past once we spoke in Indy that we would be sitting right here a month later, and that Russell Wilson and Justin Fields could be our quarterbacks? … Yeah, I might be slightly bit stunned.”

The Steelers, a corporation lengthy famend for its methodical decision-making processes, had spent the earlier month taking essentially the most un-Steeler-like strategy doable in a quest to finish a seven-year stretch with out a playoff win and maybe give them a shot at a seventh Lombardi Trophy.

That they had acquired not one however two splashy quarterbacks and traded away a once-prized first-round decide — although dealing Pickett had extra to do with circumstance than any grand plan. Khan, coach Mike Tomlin and group president Artwork Rooney II — all feeling the mounting frustration of a playoff win drought — in the end opted to position full religion not in the established order however within the unknown, and Wilson and Fields had been satisfied to return alongside for the experience.

“We’re attempting to win a Tremendous Bowl this 12 months,” Khan stated. “These selections have been made with the intent that they may assist us this 12 months.”

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IN THE MOMENTS after the Steelers’ 31-17 wild-card loss on the Payments on Jan. 15, a lot of the general public focus turned to the way forward for coach Mike Tomlin, who declined to reply a query about his contract in a postgame information convention. Behind the scenes, nonetheless, the Steelers have been confronting the truth that it was their quarterback succession plan that wanted to be adjusted.

Pickett, whom the group chosen with the No. 20 decide as inheritor to the retired Ben Roethlisberger in 2022, spent the playoff loss in Buffalo on the bench. Pickett misplaced his job weeks earlier to Mason Rudolph, the third-stringer who capitalized on a Pickett ankle damage and the ineffectiveness of backup Mitch Trubisky to creator the group’s finest stretch of offense in two years. When Pickett returned to well being however did not get his beginning job again, league observers puzzled whether or not the writing was on the wall for Pickett.

However a number of sources inside the Steelers group acknowledged the quarterback was positioned in poor conditions throughout his two years in Pittsburgh, and wasn’t given the satisfactory assist required for a younger quarterback. A flawed offense that sparked the 2023 midseason firing of coordinator Matt Canada was a part of the image, as was a shaky offensive line and an inconsistent group of talent gamers round Pickett.

The 2024 season represented an opportunity for Pickett to hit reset with a corporation that would higher place him for the position they chose him to carry. The Steelers employed former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator, a transfer that strengthened a dedication to the run recreation and a balanced offense.

In his earlier stint as a coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, Smith’s offenses had flourished with the duo of Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry, and there was optimism a play-action, run-heavy offense in Pittsburgh would play to Pickett’s strengths. Quickly after he was employed, Smith traveled to South Florida to go to with Pickett, group sources informed ESPN, and the pair hit it off.

However Pickett wasn’t going to be handed the beginning job, and the Steelers have been dedicated to including significant competitors within the QB room. Rudolph, who impressed the group along with his work ethic and poise within the four-game beginning stint, was an early favourite to re-sign with the group however a deal between the 2 sides by no means acquired shut, in line with a supply conversant in the negotiations. Rudolph agreed to a take care of the Titans on the primary day of free company.

The Steelers additionally thought of reuniting Tannehill along with his former offensive coordinator Smith, per a group supply, and gave a cursory have a look at Kirk Cousins earlier than rapidly deciding signing him was out of their worth vary. Pickett remained Plan A.

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“Arthur’s very optimistic about Kenny, and so they communicated,” Khan stated in February. “We can have some sturdy competitors there, and we’ll see the place it goes.”

Requested particularly about obtainable gamers, together with Wilson, Fields and Cousins, Khan added: “I am not going to enter particulars concerning the conversations that we have had, however I can inform you that I’ve an obligation to have a look at each avenue that is on the market to attempt to make us a greater soccer group.”

5 days later, the Denver Broncos introduced their intention to launch Wilson, and the very best avenue revealed itself.

THE INTEREST WAS mutual from the start of free company. Because the Falcons zeroed in on Cousins, the Buccaneers re-signed Baker Mayfield, and the Raiders and Vikings appeared centered on drafting a quarterback, Pittsburgh grew to become a sexy vacation spot as a result of it provided Wilson a reliable alternative for a beginning job.

As soon as Denver offered Wilson with a letter allowing him to talk and meet with different groups forward of his launch March 4, negotiations may start. The Steelers requested for an in-person assembly with Wilson, who informed the Steelers he was additionally within the means of scheduling a go to with the New York Giants.

The morning after assembly with the Giants on March 7, Wilson flew to Pittsburgh for an in-person assembly on the group facility. Wilson FaceTimed with Tomlin previous to arriving at Steelers headquarters and had conversations with a number of of the group’s defensive leaders, together with Cameron Heyward, T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick.

“The extent of respect for Russ was actually obvious and made you are feeling good,” stated a supply near Wilson in the course of the free company course of.

Sweetening the deal for Pittsburgh was Wilson’s modest $1.2 million contract, with the Broncos choosing up the remainder of the $85 million cap cost from the five-year extension he signed with the group in 2022. Although the acquisition of Wilson could be an uncharacteristically splashy deal for the Steelers, it was additionally a reasonable one.

However Tomlin was additionally impressed by Wilson’s drive, a major consider getting the deal executed, a league supply stated.

“Essentially the most enticing part of his profile, to me, is his quest for greatness, his chase for legacy,” Tomlin stated in Orlando. “… It is a man that is pushed, and also you wish to work with folks of that mindset. This man’s acquired a imaginative and prescient of what he desires his profession to appear to be, and he is acquired lots of work to do.”

Wilson did not ask for assurances a few beginning job, in line with a supply conversant in the conversations, and the Steelers did not give any.

“He is competed all of his life,” the supply stated. “He isn’t afraid of it.”

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Wilson departed Pittsburgh late on Friday, March 8, and the group huddled all weekend earlier than extending a suggestion.

“If [Wilson] offers [the Steelers] what he did with Denver, that will probably be greater than sufficient,” a group supply stated. “Not asking him to return in and do something totally different.”

The Steelers believed, one group supply stated, that including Wilson “would have been a profit to Kenny,” and the pursuit of Wilson would “kick Kenny into gear” and reignite the aggressive hearth that had made Pickett so enticing to Pittsburgh within the draft analysis course of.

As an alternative, it did the alternative.

WILSON POSTED THE video announcement at 11:36 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 10. Set to the Steelers’ signature hype track “Renegade,” Wilson’s 50-second video featured a slow-motion compilation of Horrible Towels waving at Acrisure Stadium, ending with a Steelers emblem because the music swelled and the refrain hit.

The jig is up, the information is out. They lastly discovered me.

Wilson posted the video together with a brief, but clear message: “Yr 13. Grateful. @Steelers”

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To Pickett, the message should have appeared clear, too. The fanfare of Wilson’s late-night announcement, posted as he attended a post-Oscars occasion along with his spouse, Ciara, did not have the texture of a quarterback coming in to be a backup. The Steelers’ plan, communicated to Pickett upon Wilson’s signing, per a group supply, was that Wilson would take the first-team reps, however it might be an “open competitors.”

Pickett, per a number of sources, believed the Steelers have been going again on their preliminary plan to offer him the first-team reps, inserting him at a drawback in any competitors. Pickett expressed that he would relatively play elsewhere and make a contemporary begin than compete from second place in Pittsburgh. On March 11, the day authorized tampering opened within the NFL, and fewer than 24 hours after Wilson’s announcement, rumblings of Pickett’s anger started reverberating across the league, per sources who have been concerned in free company negotiations for obtainable quarterbacks. 4 days later, the Steelers launched Wilson in a midday information convention after which traded Pickett to the Eagles that very same afternoon in a deal that included a picks swap.

“I simply thought it was time,” Pickett stated upon his introduction in Philly. “I felt prefer it was time for the issues that transpired. Wished to get an opportunity to go someplace else and proceed to develop my profession.”

Khan was conciliatory in response, saying, “Kenny’s an excellent soccer participant, an excellent quarterback. I believe he is acquired an enormous future within the NFL nonetheless. Issues simply sort of advanced.”

As soon as information of Pickett’s Pittsburgh departure broke Friday afternoon, buzz across the league began constructing concerning the Steelers making a take care of the Chicago Bears for Fields.

The Steelers had been monitoring the fee to amass Fields as they evaluated choices to compete with Pickett, although it was solely after Pickett had expressed his need for a contemporary begin, a group supply stated, that the Steelers started actively participating the Bears in talks.

Chicago, intending to maneuver the three-year starter because it ready to pick a quarterback with the No. 1 decide in April’s draft, was keen to offer Fields some say in his subsequent vacation spot. The Steelers have been certainly one of 4 groups on Fields’ radar previous to the beginning of free company, together with the Vikings, Raiders and Falcons, a supply conversant in Fields’ considering stated.

Fields “thought extremely of Tomlin,” one supply near the quarterback stated.

As with Wilson, the Steelers’ curiosity was mutual. Tomlin had attended Ohio State’s professional day in 2021 and wasn’t shy about praising the dynamic quarterback.

“You understand who we got here to see,” Tomlin stated to Fields previous to the quarterback’s exercise that day.

And although Smith took the job in Pittsburgh anticipating to work with Pickett, Fields’ profile, one just like Wilson’s, as a dynamic, cellular quarterback with an enormous arm, additionally suits Smith’s play-action-heavy system.

Lower than 30 hours after buying and selling Pickett, the Steelers executed the commerce for Fields, buying him for a 2025 sixth-round decide that might be upgraded to a fourth if Fields performs greater than 51% of snaps within the 2024 season.

Bears common supervisor Ryan Poles in the end adopted by way of on a mix pledge to “do proper by Justin,” dealing Fields to Pittsburgh over at the least one higher provide from a group with a longtime quarterback starter, a Bears group supply stated.

Because the commerce was being finalized, the Steelers reached out to each Wilson and Fields, informing them that Wilson can have the “pole place” coming into 2024. The 25-year-old Fields, they stated, was added and would study behind the 35-year-old Wilson. However, as Tomlin prompt at league conferences in Orlando, that does not imply the door is totally closed on a quarterback competitors.

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“Relaxation assured when it is time to compete, Justin will probably be given a chance to compete,” Tomlin stated. “And we’ll enable these guys to kind themselves out.”

Wilson publicly welcomed Fields to Pittsburgh on X, posting a photograph of the 2 shaking palms after a Broncos-Bears recreation together with the message, “let’s get it,” and tagging Fields. “QB room bout to be [fire emojis].”

Though the acquisitions are financially low threat for the second — Fields’ will earn $3.2 million this season, however the Steelers should determine on his $25.7 million fifth-year possibility for 2025 by Could 2 — the stakes could not be larger for any of the central figures within the episode.

Wilson stabilized his profession with a modestly profitable 26-touchdown, eight-interception season in 2023, however his two-year tenure in Denver referred to as into query whether or not he could be an elite passer or gas one other Tremendous Bowl run. Wilson should show he can thrive once more, and in a brand new offense directed by Smith.

Fields confirmed flashes of expertise in three seasons with the Bears, however not constantly sufficient for Chicago to commit its future to him. He’ll must show he can proceed to develop below Smith in 2024, and in what figures to be a backup position.

Khan and Tomlin, the important thing orchestrators of the offers, are on the hook to show the Steelers right into a postseason issue once more, if not a Tremendous Bowl group. Even with a greater QB state of affairs and a top-notch protection returning, Pittsburgh’s ESPN BET over/below for 2024 sits at 8.5 wins, reflecting middling perceptions inside an AFC North that once more appears to be a gauntlet.

The affect of the headline-grabbing maneuvers executed over 13 days in March will not be absolutely recognized for at the least 11 months.

“I owe it to the Steeler Nation to do every part I can to attempt to get to the Tremendous Bowl,” Khan stated. “Each determination that we make and that we discuss, each transfer that we make and discuss relies on that.

“Generally we make strikes, we make selections, generally we do not, however it’s all the time with the intent of doing what we are able to to get the second week in February.”

Jeremy Fowler and Courtney Cronin contributed to this story.