Jan 28, 2022 5 min read

Within a span of about 24 hours, the Steelers have gone from having a Super Bowl-winning quarterback and a GM who has been instrumental in building those championship rosters to knowing this offseason will truly be one of major transition.

Ben Roethlisberger dropped his unsurprising news Thursday morning. Art Rooney II said that GM Kevin Colbert will retire after this year’s draft, one in which he’ll be tasked with perhaps finding a replacement for the franchise quarterback.

If there have been two more eventful announcements in Steelers history occurring within hours of each other, they don’t come to mind.

Whoever the new quarterback might be – and Rooney wouldn’t close the door on it being Mason Rudolph or Dwayne Haskins – he and the new GM will enter 2022 with the same mandate Roethlisberger and Colbert have faced each year. Go compete for the Super Bowl.

“I would never sit here and say we’re going to change our goal of winning a Super Bowl,” Rooney said. “Every season, that has to be the goal as far as I’m concerned. We certainly have work to do with an opening at the quarterback position; you could say it’s a new chapter. We’ll be doing everything we can to make sure we have the best person we can possibly have in that position. As we all know, that’s a key position. It’s going to be a transition getting there and having a new quarterback this season. I’m excited about the challenge, and I know coach (Mike) Tomlin and everyone here are excited about that challenge.”

The obvious frontrunner – at least right now – is Rudolph. He’s currently the only quarterback under contract with the team in 2022. But Haskins is a restricted free agent, so the team can easily tender him an offer and keep himmjm.

As for outside competition or just plain finding a starter, well, that’s a little more tricky.

“We certainly won’t close any doors at this point. It’s still early in the process,” Rooney said. “There will be a lot of doors to open and look through. We have Mason Rudolph and (Dwayne) Haskins on the roster. Those two will be able to compete for the position. But we’ll be look at the other options like any position, to put the best roster on the field and the best person at quarterback for us next year.”

The nice thing is that, unlike many other years, the Steelers actually have some cap space available. They’re an estimated $34 million under the league’s $208.2 million cap and can adjust some things to create even more space, if necessary.

The free agent market includes Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and Mitch Trubisky. All three are former top-3 draft picks – Winston was the first-overall pick in 2015 – who had to go elsewhere.

Winston spent the past two seasons with the Saints, while Mariota did the same with the Raiders. Trubisky spent a year in Buffalo backing up Josh Allen.

None would break the bank and could be targets in free agency.

That could be the way the Steelers go considering this year’s crop of rookie quarterbacks isn’t great. There are six who could be first-round picks this year, though none are considered slam dunks to be taken in the top 10.

Five of those quarterbacks – Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, North Carolina’s Sam Howell, Nevada’s Carson Strong, Desmond Ridder of Cincinnati and Liberty’s Malik Willis – will be at the Senior Bowl next week in Mobile, Ala. Expect the Steelers to spend a lot of time talking to all five.

The only top-rated quarterback who won’t be there will be underclassman Matt Corral of Mississippi.

If the Steelers come away unimpressed by that group at the Senior Bowl, the free agent direction could be the way to go.

As for those pining for a trade for Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson, good luck with those wishes. There’s a better chance of Terry Bradshaw coming out of retirement to quarterback the Steelers than one of those three landing in Pittsburgh.

Though they’ll obviously explore those options, the guess here is that the price – which would be multiple first-round draft picks as well as paying their salaries – will be more than the Steelers want to give, particularly if there is a bidding war as expected for those players.

This week’s picks

Bengals (plus 7) at Chiefs: The Bengals rallied to beat the Chiefs, 34-31, in Week 17 in Cincinnati. It is Kansas City’s only loss since Oct. 24. They were probably due to lose one. Arrowhead Stadium will be a tough nut to crack for Cincinnati’s gruesome offensive line, which allowed Joe Burrow to be sacked nine times last week against Tennessee. If the Chiefs get half that amount, they’ll win this going away. Take the Chiefs, 34-24

49ers (plus 3½) at Rams: This is the matchup the Rams might not have wanted. The 49ers beat them twice in the regular season, including 27-24 in overtime in Los Angeles in the final week of the season. But Jimmy Garoppolo has yet to throw a touchdown pass in either of the 49ers’ first two playoff games, throwing a pair of interceptions. That won’t get it done in this game. This will be close, but the Rams are the better team. Beating them three times in a season won’t be easy. Take the 49ers to cover in a 27-24 loss

Last Week: 2-2 ATS, 1-3 straight up; overall: 41-58-1 ATS; 61-40 straight up.