The Steelers are caught between two timelines, and neither of them are good
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images The Steelers find themselves in the middle of two worlds, but which path will they take out? I like to think of the Pittsburgh Steelers as the song, “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World. In a world where we throw the phrase “mid” around a lot, the Steelers have embodied the word for approximately five years. Their entire M.O. has been to be good enough to steal a wild card spot, but never good enough to seriously threaten the legitimate teams in the AFC. While it’s admirable to continue down this road, eventually the rope runs out, and it looks like 2025 has been the breaking point. The Steelers are beginning to remodel their own roster, with the latest step of this process trading WR George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2026 third round pick and a 2027 seventh round pick swap. In a vacuum, I understand this move. Pickens clearly ran out of time in Pittsburgh, his flashes of dominance overshadowed by some of the most boneheaded moments I’ve seen from a receiver in recent memory. Combine that with an expiring contract, and it makes sense why the Steelers departed with the receiver. But, given the timing and the other news surrounding the Steelers, I have to ask ... what’s the plan in 2025? The Steelers feel rudderless, a team stuck between wanting to compete for titles and also trying to make a move for a QB in the 2026 NFL Draft. If the Steelers were going to try and be competitive, it might’ve made sense to keep Pickens on the roster. Despite his volatility, he was the clear cut second best receiver and the depth behind him got incredibly thin. WR Calvin Austin is fun, but in a more limited role than the one that he’s thrust into now. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Steelers are hopeful for a Year 2 jump from Roman Wilson, but it’s a big ask of a guy who was a Day 2 pick coming off an injury. Signing Robert Woods doesn’t add much to the room in terms of receiving pop in 2025, either. In the trade market, there’s not a lot of big name guys left. Jets’ WR Allen Lazard has been a popular name thrown around in the rumor mill, as has Packers’ WR Romeo Doubs. But neither of those seem likely, only being tossed in because of their connection to QB Aaron Rodgers (who hasn’t even signed yet--we’ll get to that later). Pittsburgh’s offensive gameplan is going to be running the piss out of the football, which I completely stand by, but the sustainability of that style of play might come into question without a QB worth a damn on the roster. Which brings us to the next point: for a team that isn’t good enough to win games competitively, the continuing courtship of Aaron Rodgers feels odd, to put it mildly. It feels very unlike the Steelers to continue talks with a player who is actively forcing them to wait, having to go bargain bin shopping at QB while Rodgers goes and spouts on the Pat McAfee show about waiting and not making any decisions yet. Even if Rodgers ends up becoming QB of the Steelers, at 41 years old is he going to get them over the Wild Card hump? Can he do that on a roster that isn’t QB-proof just yet? This Steelers team has more questions than answers on their roster right now, and signing a 41-year-old QB isn’t going to solve that. Opting not to meet the contract needs of Sam Darnold and Justin Fields signal to me a team that wants to use a short-term QB and leverage their 12 draft picks to go draft a rookie at the position in 2026. Rodgers is not going to be a part of the team long-term if he does sign in Pittsburgh, and he’s not going to win you a Super Bowl in 2025. Signing 34-year-old Darius Slay also feels like a bizarre move for a team caught between being competitive and rebuilding. Pittsburgh has tried to live in two different worlds this offseason, never fully committing to one or the other. It can be useful, keeping one eye on the future and one on the current iteration of the roster, but the Steelers have done so in a way that leaves them without many options in the short or long term. No impactful receiver moves to aid DK Metcalf in the room, aging veterans to raise the floor of a roster that completely bottomed out last season. So, where does that leave us with Pittsburgh in 2025? All of this shows me that the Steelers are in a spot they haven’t been in a long time: they’re desperate. Desperate to try and win now while core players such as Cam Heyward and TJ Watt get older (and in Watt’s case, get richer). While they still have Heyward, Watt and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, the team feels like they have to go out and win the whole thing now, but has to try and stockpile picks for their next version of the roster as well. With the team trying to paddle in two separate directions, it leaves them aimless, hoping for a last shot at glory with players who just might not be good enough to do that. Trading for Metcalf is a short and long term play, but everything outside of that has been confusing, making moves for no rhyme or
The Steelers find themselves in the middle of two worlds, but which path will they take out?
I like to think of the Pittsburgh Steelers as the song, “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World.
In a world where we throw the phrase “mid” around a lot, the Steelers have embodied the word for approximately five years. Their entire M.O. has been to be good enough to steal a wild card spot, but never good enough to seriously threaten the legitimate teams in the AFC. While it’s admirable to continue down this road, eventually the rope runs out, and it looks like 2025 has been the breaking point.
The Steelers are beginning to remodel their own roster, with the latest step of this process trading WR George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2026 third round pick and a 2027 seventh round pick swap. In a vacuum, I understand this move. Pickens clearly ran out of time in Pittsburgh, his flashes of dominance overshadowed by some of the most boneheaded moments I’ve seen from a receiver in recent memory. Combine that with an expiring contract, and it makes sense why the Steelers departed with the receiver. But, given the timing and the other news surrounding the Steelers, I have to ask ... what’s the plan in 2025?
The Steelers feel rudderless, a team stuck between wanting to compete for titles and also trying to make a move for a QB in the 2026 NFL Draft. If the Steelers were going to try and be competitive, it might’ve made sense to keep Pickens on the roster. Despite his volatility, he was the clear cut second best receiver and the depth behind him got incredibly thin. WR Calvin Austin is fun, but in a more limited role than the one that he’s thrust into now. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Steelers are hopeful for a Year 2 jump from Roman Wilson, but it’s a big ask of a guy who was a Day 2 pick coming off an injury. Signing Robert Woods doesn’t add much to the room in terms of receiving pop in 2025, either.
In the trade market, there’s not a lot of big name guys left. Jets’ WR Allen Lazard has been a popular name thrown around in the rumor mill, as has Packers’ WR Romeo Doubs. But neither of those seem likely, only being tossed in because of their connection to QB Aaron Rodgers (who hasn’t even signed yet--we’ll get to that later). Pittsburgh’s offensive gameplan is going to be running the piss out of the football, which I completely stand by, but the sustainability of that style of play might come into question without a QB worth a damn on the roster.
Which brings us to the next point: for a team that isn’t good enough to win games competitively, the continuing courtship of Aaron Rodgers feels odd, to put it mildly. It feels very unlike the Steelers to continue talks with a player who is actively forcing them to wait, having to go bargain bin shopping at QB while Rodgers goes and spouts on the Pat McAfee show about waiting and not making any decisions yet. Even if Rodgers ends up becoming QB of the Steelers, at 41 years old is he going to get them over the Wild Card hump? Can he do that on a roster that isn’t QB-proof just yet?
This Steelers team has more questions than answers on their roster right now, and signing a 41-year-old QB isn’t going to solve that. Opting not to meet the contract needs of Sam Darnold and Justin Fields signal to me a team that wants to use a short-term QB and leverage their 12 draft picks to go draft a rookie at the position in 2026. Rodgers is not going to be a part of the team long-term if he does sign in Pittsburgh, and he’s not going to win you a Super Bowl in 2025. Signing 34-year-old Darius Slay also feels like a bizarre move for a team caught between being competitive and rebuilding.
Pittsburgh has tried to live in two different worlds this offseason, never fully committing to one or the other. It can be useful, keeping one eye on the future and one on the current iteration of the roster, but the Steelers have done so in a way that leaves them without many options in the short or long term. No impactful receiver moves to aid DK Metcalf in the room, aging veterans to raise the floor of a roster that completely bottomed out last season.
So, where does that leave us with Pittsburgh in 2025? All of this shows me that the Steelers are in a spot they haven’t been in a long time: they’re desperate. Desperate to try and win now while core players such as Cam Heyward and TJ Watt get older (and in Watt’s case, get richer). While they still have Heyward, Watt and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, the team feels like they have to go out and win the whole thing now, but has to try and stockpile picks for their next version of the roster as well. With the team trying to paddle in two separate directions, it leaves them aimless, hoping for a last shot at glory with players who just might not be good enough to do that. Trading for Metcalf is a short and long term play, but everything outside of that has been confusing, making moves for no rhyme or reason.
The Steelers are living in the middle right now, dancing in and out of two worlds they don’t seem really sure about being in. Yet, that dancing and jumping in and out has left them aimless, the face of NFL purgatory. And that’s a world nobody wants to be in.
