Kenny Pickett, a third-year player, is the only quarterback officially on the Pittsburgh Steelers roster at the moment. Mitch Trubisky was cut by the team after two seasons, having performed poorly almost all of the time he was on the field. Then there is Mason Rudolph, a veteran backup for the Steelers who has been a member of the team since his 2018 draft selection. He is a free agent this offseason, and since he gave the Steelers their greatest quarterback play of 2023, he has generated a lot of controversy.
Will Rudolph be retained by the Steelers is the key question. Although the team has expressed a desire to, this is a business. Rudolph expressed his desire to do so, but once more, this is a business. He had a string of successful games, and he probably will if he can make money off of it.
Numerous prominent members of the local media, such as Ramon Foster, a former offensive guard for the Steelers, have predicted his signing. According to Foster’s latest comments, Rudolph might get up to $12 million annually. Dejan Kovacevic, his podcast counterpart, disagrees, estimating that Rudolph’s annual market value is closer to $7–$8 million
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Steelers Won’t Enter A Bidding War For Rudolph Lately, there has been much discussion about Rudolph, his contract, and his future in Pittsburgh. Foster is by no means the first member of the media to bring him up. No matter where he goes, “nobody is going to anoint him,” according to a recent article by ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. He isn’t good enough to start.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writer Gerry Dulac covers the Steelers, and he has a popular “chat column” where he discusses the quarterback issue in general and Rudolph in particular. According to a recent article by Dulac, there is disagreement inside the team on who should start Pickett or Rudolph in the event that he returns in 2024.
In a recent discussion, he expressed confidence that the Steelers will not face many obstacles in regaining Rudolph should they desire him. This was in reaction to a fan who questioned Dulac about the likelihood that Rudolph would receive offers from other teams, expressing surprise that other supporters were simply presuming that he would return
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He’s more likely to come back since the Steelers are in favor of him doing so. To your point, though, I wouldn’t rule out him signing elsewhere either. However, I would issue a warning—either way, there won’t be a bidding war for his services, and he won’t get an absurd contract.
Another fan questioned Dulac in the same chat thread whether he thought Head Coach Mike Tomlin truly wanted Rudolph back, given that the player has repeatedly fallen down the depth chart. Dulac thought that was an excellent question. It’s a valid point. While he was occasionally adequate, Rudolph was never the same player we saw in the aging Ben Roethlisberger that we saw in
That raises the question: Did Rudolph simply get lucky those days, or has he simply progressed that much? How could Tomlin have missed Rudolph’s development into this superb quarterback? Or how come the coach for the quarterback didn’t tell him? Tomlin has made it clear time and time again that he does not care about depth charts or draft positions; he will always play the best player. He has demonstrated this by alternating the running back position between Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris.
Despite all of that, Dulac has made no secret of the fact that he thinks the Steelers will continue to play Pickett in 2024. He will get another chance, regardless of the explanations for his subpar performances—that he required more time or that the awful play-calling of former offensive coordinator Matt Canada impeded his development.
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