The Steelers Got D.K. Metcalf

Note:

Posts on here have not been nearly as frequent as I would like. Life is getting in the way a little more often than I anticipated it would, but that’s hardly an excuse, seeing as there are many of you who are paying for this site, and you deserve your money’s worth. Having said that, expect a significant and steady uptick in posts, including paid ones, starting immediately. They might be shorter form at times, and on occasion will be “notes-style” pieces, but overall, the goal will be to give you the best quality work I’m capable of, on a more regular schedule. Thanks for your patience, and your continued support of Nine Straight Threes.

--Mgmt

I was all prepared to write about the Steelers doing something they rarely do in free agency (legal tampering, technically) after they swung a deal with the Seahawks for D.K. Metcalf, sending a second-round pick to Seattle for their star wide receiver, then handing him a 4-year, $132 million contract extension.

It seemed like the logical A-1 story. Omar Khan finally got his man after striking out during last year’s interminable Brandon Aiyuk Sweepstakes. The Steelers were a player. Surely, a quarterback to throw Metcalf the ball wouldn’t be far behind.

In fact, most people assumed that the Metcalf deal was struck with the intention of enticing Justin Fields to re-sign with the team.

Wrong.

Fields is gone, spurning the Steelers for the Jets, and reportedly a slightly more lucrative offer. Money matters above all else, but it’s also pretty clear that Fields was stung on some level by Mike Tomlin’s decision to bench him after a 4-2 start, no matter how gracefully he handled the demotion.

Sam Darnold was never really a serious option here; it seems in retrospect like Seattle probably traded Metcalf secure in the knowledge that Darnold would sign with them regardless.

Daniel Jones, an option no worse than Fields? Heading to Indianapolis, for a mere 1-year, $14 million deal.

Enter Aaron Rodgers.

It appears that the Steelers are the frontrunners to land Rodgers, who was cut loose by the Jets after his two years there were marred by a season-ending injury and uneven, uninspiring performance, respectively. They were also filled with the kind of public dysfunction that only Rodgers can bring.

He became the Jets’ de facto general manager, clashed with wide receiver Garrett Wilson, doubtless played some part in Robert Saleh’s dismissal, and was always ready, willing and able to go on the Pat McAfee Show and stir the pot about whatever subject he felt like bloviating about that day, football or otherwise.

He’s also going to be 42 in December, and his commitment to football seems tenuous, at best.

Rodgers is a shell of the four-time MVP he once was. He’s not the kind of player who can take a team from a first-round playoff exit to the Super Bowl. Not even close, actually.

This is really the guy the Steelers want to tie themselves to? Really?

On the other hand, option B is Russell Wilson. I do not need to tell you about how that would turn out, because you already saw the movie with your own eyes last year. Wilson is a good citizen, but hardly a galvanizing leader, and most importantly, he stunk down the stretch. About the only team that might have a cursory interest in him besides the Steelers – whose interest, to be fair, seems nonexistent at this point – would be the Giants.

Would you like to know the other quarterback rumored to be considering the G-Men? That’s right, it’s Rodgers. If they make him an offer he can’t refuse, the Steelers would almost have no choice but to slink back to Wilson and ask him to play quarterback in 2025.

Inspiring stuff.

The real question here is, “What are the Steelers doing?”

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They look for all the world like a directionless franchise, one that’s stockpiling assets – they also added running back Kenneth Gainwell on Tuesday evening – like they’re trying to make a run at contention this year, but they don’t have anyone under center. Rodgers is a quick fix, and a bad one at that. Wilson is a retread. Anyone else still available as of this writing, be it Gardner Minshew, Mac Jones, Carson Wentz, Jameis Winston or someone else is the definition of a journeyman.

None of these players will make the Steelers a real threat in the AFC. The idea that they’re actually trying to become one is frustrating. It seems that, if anything, their goal for this offseason is to try and cobble together a 9- or 10-win team. What good would that do? It’s the same thing they’ve been for years.

There is clearly no appetite for a rebuild. Tomlin, Art Rooney II and Omar Khan are acting like they’ve got a contender that just needs a piece here and a piece there. They couldn’t be any further from that. The defense disappeared last year, and T.J. Watt was the biggest culprit, failing to record a sack in each of the team’s final four games, and failing to register a stat of any kind in the playoffs against the Ravens.

Are the Steelers looking to flip Watt for assets to try and help other areas on the roster? Of course not. They’re likely to give him a big money extension, despite the fact that his peak is in the past. Why? Because they see him as a “one helmet” guy. At this rate, his career will end with one helmet and zero playoff wins. The team’s lack of postseason success with Watt as their centerpiece doesn’t matter. They’re going to pay him because that’s just what they do.

Take a 10,000-foot view of this team and you see a front office that’s flailing, desperately clinging to relevance and trying to keep a nonexistent window open. They are going to try and win now, even though no sane person thinks that they can.

This is how bad teams operate. They make moves for the sake of making moves, seemingly without a plan, and they are often left grasping for answers as their plans go awry.

For a few hours there, when the Metcalf news broke, this team got mighty interesting. With every passing minute, however, that’s looking less like the first step of a master plan, and more like a blip on the radar.