The hottest topic this offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers has circled around the quarterback position.
It’s no secret that after a lackluster second year from former first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett, the team has been weighing its options at the position.
Whether that ends up being Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, or some mystery candidate remains to be seen, but the unknown has opened the door for plenty of speculation and opinions. This time, it was former Steelers offensive lineman Ramon Foster sharing his thoughts on Pickett.
“In his two years as a starter in Pittsburgh we have yet to see a game from him the way we’ve seen from Mason Rudolph those last four, five weeks,” Foster said on The Arthur Moats Experience with Deke Podcast.
Foster believes the Steelers share the same skepticism as him because of their meeting with Wilson on Friday.
“If you feel like your guy is the guy, you don’t bring in Russell Wilson for a backup position,” Foster said. “Russell Wilson is a bona fide Super Bowl winner. You don’t do that type of thing.”
It’s tough to argue with Foster here. Despite the Steelers saying they are confident in Pickett and reports of him being the starter next season, they continue to be in the mix for seemingly every available quarterback.
It’s like any episode of one of my favorite shows, Bachelor in Paradise. Someone couples up with a person they really like on Day 1, but as time goes on and they realize it’s not a match. They start fielding offers from the next hot thing all while telling their partner they are the only one for them. It creates a beautiful mess of toxicity, leading to chaos perfect for reality television. What it’s not great for is NFL players, which makes Foster believe Pickett may look to leave.
“If I’m Kenny, I’ll be honest, I’ll be a little livid behind this,” Foster said. “You told me I was the guy. It’s a situation of don’t believe what they say, believe what they do. If I’m Kenny, at some point, because he can command it before it gets super bad, I’d probably be talking to my agent like can we find a way out somewhere.”
In the scenario where a top-name quarterback does end up in Pittsburgh it’s difficult to imagine Pickett sticking with the team. There were already reports of his discontent after Rudolph overtook him as the starter at the end of last season, so it’s reasonable to think that would continue if he were to be replaced by someone on the open market.
Whatever the case may be, we should begin to get more answers and less speculation next week when NFL free agency officially opens. Until then, prepare your pictures of players photoshopped in a Steelers uniform accordingly.
