Ron Cook's excellent interview with Ben Roethlisberger in the Post-Gazette today got me thinking.
Is it possible that the Steelers…and maybe Steelers fans…got the best of both worlds in how Ben Roethlisberger's career ended and how this offseason went?
As I say that, I know there are some people who will roll their eyes at that. There are many among us who did NOT want to see big number 7 out there for another season last year. But as I can recall, the alternative to not bringing Ben back last year was to move forward into the future.
Part of that future was setting up the franchise to get its next franchise quarterback, right? I don't think fans were seeking out a Carson Wentz signing or to turn the reins of the franchise over to Jameis Winston. If wasn't Ben, it would have most likely been a full year of a Mason Rudolph experiment.
And if Mason's lone start of the season against the Lions, that miserable tie, was any indication of how the rest of the season would have gone, who knows what the Steelers record would have ended up being and who would have even finished the season as the starting quarterback.
It could have been a tank job. Not pretty, but sometimes in sports you need to tank, to completely bottom out, in order to set up well for the future. Ben himself was drafted here because of a terrible season. Same with Sidney Crosby. Same with Evgeni Malkin. Same with Mario Lemieux. The list goes on and on.
Those who wanted that to happen and for Ben to hit the road weren't crazy. It was a viable option, though again, an ugly one.
Ben intimated to Ron in his story that Kevin Colbert was ready to move on from Ben after 2020. Mike Tomlin was sort of in that camp too but was ok with him coming back. But Art Rooney II was the one who ultimately wanted him back and what the boss wants, the boss gets.
So he returned.
I believe part of Rooney's thinking was that he wanted things to end well with Ben. He didn't want an ugly break-up where they essentially told me to take a hike, even though he wanted to continue playing. Rooney got his wish because that send-off for Big Ben at Heinz Field (RIP Heinz Field) was tremendous and was a great memory for Steelers fans everywhere, not just the ones in the building that night.
They sent Ben off into the sunset. Then the offseason came…and this is where I think things may have worked out well for all.
A huge reason you tank a season…or start Mason Rudolph for an entire season only to confirm he's not the guy for the future…is to move forward toward bringing the next QB in. It's the most important position in sports, you have to get that right to win. Normally that takes a top 5 or at least a top 10 pick to feel confident about your pick.
But this just so happened to be the year that the first quarterback taken was at 20th overall. And it was the Pittsburgh Steelers picking the Pitt kid, Kenny Pickett.
In the end, the Steelers got their Ben send-off, ended things well with Roethlisberger and STILL got their first round quarterback as the first QB off the board.
I don't think that was really an option a year ago. We didn't think that was possible. Now, the one major caveat to this is that Kenny Pickett actually has to be a good NFL QB. I mean, this whole thing of getting the best of both worlds doesn't work if Pickett doesn't cut it at the next level.
Let's be honest, the Steelers weren't real Super Bowl contenders with or without Ben last year so it's not like they threw away a chance at a championship by bringing him back.
Avoiding an ugly, Polamalu-like end for Ben AND drafting the QB who practiced on the other side of the same building on the South Sie in the first round of that offseason who has a chance to become the next face of the franchise?
Kevin Colbert has to be pretty happy with how that all shook out, even if he didn't want Ben back in the first place.
