Pittsburgh Steelers: Are They Finally Headed For A Rebuild?

While they’ve had their seasons of ups and downs, the Pittsburgh Steeler have been one of the more fortunate teams in the NFL. They’ve had a long history of keeping both their head coach and quarterbacks for multiple years without a true rebuild. Head coach Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger have been some of the most dynamic staples of the Steelers’ success. Now that Roethlisberger is finally retiring, are the Pittsburgh Steelers finally heading for a rebuild?

As it stands, the Steelers don’t seem to currently have a plan to replace their Super Bowl-winning QB. The free-agent market isn’t exactly loaded with talent and there are some red flags concerning this year’s NFL Draft Class. It’s been so long that they’ve had to worry about the quarterback position. Even when they have they’ve struck gold. Even when they’ve leaned on a less than stellar quarterback, they’ve had the defense to cover for the lack of QB play.

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Then there’s the rest of the division. The Steelers have long been at the top of a challenging division. AFC North is as competitive as it’s even been with all four teams making the playoffs the past two seasons. The Bengals were even in the Super Bowl runner-ups. Each team seems to have some degree of success at quarterback at least for the short term, while the Steelers need to find that spark in the offseason. If they can’t get in right, it will be a couple of seasons before they catch back up to the rest of an already strong division.

Throw in the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers have lost a few key pieces over the past few seasons and it’ll be as close to a reset as it can get. Luckily for them, there was some creativity in the offseason and they were able to get their cap numbers down. They’re projected to be in the top 10 in terms of cap space. They’ll be able to bring in some key playmakers to help the new quarterback’s success but even if the division isn’t as strong next year it will still take time for the team to gel. There’s a good chance if their pieces don’t line up perfectly, they could get off to a slow start in 2022.

Fans need not worry though. If one thing has proven true, it’s that the Pittsburgh Steelers know how to turn things around quickly. They’re one of a few teams that don’t turn over the HC position every 2 to 3 years. They’ve found the talent to fill holes quickly and never stayed too long at the bottom. 2022 might be their most challenging season, but there’s a good chance they’ll find their way.