The Steelers can compete in 2025 and still get their quarterback in 2026

They can accomplish both things at the same time.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not going to tank a season for draft position. They are not. They will not. For better or worse, that is simply not how they do business. There is a significant portion of the fan base that likes to say they would take a 3-14 season over the recent mediocrity if it meant that they would get a franchise-changing quarterback that could give them a chance to win Super Bowls in the future.

In theory, I get it.

I also used to subscribe to that theory across most sports. But in practice it doesn’t always work, and it can sometimes put you into a position where your team is worse off for even longer, especially if you don’t have the right draft class or get the right prospect to build your franchise around.

But just setting aside the merits of the strategy for a minute, it’s simply not something the Steelers are going to do. They didn’t do it under Chuck Noll. They didn’t do it under Bill Cowher. They don’t and won’t do it under Mike Tomlin.

It’s not happening. Stop asking for it. Stop thinking about it. Get it out of your head.

Having said that, I am also not fully prepared to say they are “all-in” on this season, because I don’t know if that’s a totally fair assessment given how much salary cap space they are going into the season with.

An all-in team would have been spending every dollar to the cap and loading up as much as possible.

Even if they are not “all-in,” it is still pretty clear this team is at least trying to compete for something.

Signing a soon-to-be 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers is a competitive move.

Trading for Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith is a competitive move.

Signing Darius Slay is a competitive move.

Trading for and re-signing DK Metcalf to a long-term contract is a competitive move.

I don’t know how competitive they will be, and it is certainly not a Super Bowl team on paper, but the mindset is still pretty clear that they want to make the playoffs. I think they will.

It might look very similar to what we have seen the past few years where they win 10 games, sneak into a wild-card spot, and will go as far as their matchups dictate. If they get the AFC South winner or a team dealing with major injuries they might win a game, and then lose as soon as they play one of the elite quarterbacks in the AFC.

That is their ceiling as currently constructed. That is their ceiling until they find their own elite quarterback.

In the eyes of a lot of Steelers fans, this is not good enough. This is just maintaining the perpetual state of mediocrity and will keep them stuck in this middle ground of the league where they are not good enough to win a Super Bowl and not bad enough to get the quarterback they need.

I disagree.

They can have their cake and eat it, too, and could be better for it in the long-run.

And there is plenty of recent evidence across the league to suggest it is possible.

Let’s talk about it.