Of all the responses Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin gave about his team’s current quarterback situation during a Q&A with reporters in Florida on Sunday, one resonated with me well beyond the others.
“I don’t know if we’re identifying anything as ‘Plan A, Plan B or Plan C.’ We’re just simply looking at the field of available people,” Tomlin said at the NFL’s league meetings this weekend.
Yeah. No kidding. It’s felt that way since free agency opened in mid-March.
While Tomlin made those comments referring to what the franchise’s plans are moving forward as the team waits for Aaron Rodgers to decide if he wants to play in Pittsburgh, they certainly resonate as an appropriate characterization of how the organization has handled itself when it comes addressing the QB situation for the past few weeks.
That said, Tomlin acknowledged that there previously was a “Plan A” and that it just didn’t work out the way the club wanted.
“I know what we said regarding Russell (Wilson) and Justin (Fields), but it didn’t pan out that way. Such is life in our game, and particularly in free agency,” Tomlin said during his opening remarks.
Tomlin was at least partially referencing Art Rooney II’s comments back in January. That’s when the Steelers’ owner said of last year’s QBs, “My preference would be to sign one of them,”Rooney said. “That’ll be the priority, and I think that will give us the best opportunity to move forward.”
As Tomlin said, though, that didn’t happen. Now, we all have to wonder how much of a priority it ever truly was in the first place.
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After all, Fields signed with the New York Jets for $40 million over two years. That’s not an overwhelming number, and the Steelers probably could’ve outbid New York if they wanted to do so. They decided against that choice.
So be it. That’s understandable. However, if it was really a “priority” to at least keep Wilson, then the Steelers had a really funny way of showing that.
The 36-year-old sat on the open market for two weeks after Fields inked his contract, waiting for anyone to make a worthwhile offer. He even flirted with the division rival Cleveland Browns. Yet the Steelers were perfectly content to let him walk away to the New York Giants on a one-year, $10.5 million contract.
If that’s a “priority,” then what is an “afterthought?”
Especially when the quarterback depth chart is currently just Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. Especially when the draft doesn’t have a lot of first-round-worthy quarterbacks who are expected to be available at or near the Steelers’ 21st overall pick.
Perhaps keeping Wilson was a priority for Rooney. It certainly didn’t appear to be that way for Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan, though.
That’s part of the issues of perception right now for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Whatever the plan is, it hasn’t been properly laid out, or it hasn’t been properly executed.
Either way, a franchise that has long been based on continuity and stability within the walls of the building now gives off a sense that it is feeling its way in the dark at the sport’s most important position. And I’m getting no sense that they are about to find the light switch any time soon.
Given Rodgers’ preference for darkness — and his apparent desire to keep the Steelers in it — that is fitting.