The Steelers seem to be throwing in the Terrible Towel.
Last year, the Steelers broke from their slow-and-steady reputation by cleaning out the quarterback depth chart and adding three new players — Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Kyle Allen. But they came cheap; all three combined cost less than what former Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph made in Tennessee for 2024.
This year, the Steelers are already spending like never before. The franchise that drafts and develops receivers better than any other team will give receiver D.K. Metcalf a contract with a new-money average of $33 million per year. That’s only $1 million less than the new-money average of one of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s late-career Band-Aid deals.
The structure of the Metcalf deal will be revealing, too. For non-quarterbacks, it’s rare to get fully-guaranteed money beyond the first year of the contract.
Regardless, the D.K. dollars are staggering, given Pittsburgh’s history. Usually, that money goes to players who already played for the team. The idea of a stranger to the franchise breaking the bank is strange, to say the least.
And it could have ripple effects. Linebacker T.J. Watt currently is in line for a new deal. What will he get? Receiver George Pickens seems to be SOL for a second deal in Pittsburgh. Other young players might be wondering whether they’ll get their reward in Pittsburgh, or elsewhere.
The shift will become even more dramatic if the Steelers add quarterback Aaron Rodgers. While a Steelers-Rodgers pairing has always made perfect sense, Pittsburgh apparently has warmed to the idea only recently — perhaps after realizing that Justin Fields will be signing with another team, like the Jets.
Even if Rodgers gives the Steelers a sweetheart deal, they’ve never paid significant money to a free-agent quarterback. They could be doing just that this week.
Whether it changes the results for the Steelers remains to be seen. However, they seem to be trying a different approach. It requires cash, and it entails real risk.
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