Mar 28, 2025 5 min read

By Dale Lolley

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin will meet with the media, for the first time since the team’s season ended, at the league meetings here Sunday.

You can bet that Tomlin would have preferred to have the Steelers’ quarterback situation settled by now. Then again, after meeting with Aaron Rodgers in Pittsburgh two Fridays ago at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for six hours, you can wager that Tomlin has a pretty good idea about for whom Rodgers will play in 2025.

It was no coincidence that a few days after Rodgers met with Tomlin and others in Pittsburgh that Russell Wilson, the Steelers’ starting quarterback in 2024, chose to sign as a free agent with the New York Giants. Given his choice, Wilson’s top option for 2025 was to re-sign with the Steelers. It was why he continued to wait throughout the process.

There’s a good chance that after the Steelers met with Rodgers, Wilson’s agent called the team to see where things stood. And he likely didn’t like the answer, prompting Wilson to accept New York’s offer.

That leads to the idea that even though nothing has still been announced, the Steelers know what’s going on with Rodgers.

Given the fact they chose not to turn back to Wilson, it would suggest they expect he’ll be coming to Pittsburgh sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan, who also will talk to the media at the league meetings, will have to be vague with their answers about their plans at quarterback.

• Pat McAfee will be hosting an event at PPG Paints Arena April 9. Rodgers is a regular paid contributor to McAfee’s show on ESPN, though he hasn’t taken part since his release by the New York Jets.

Perhaps, and we’re just spitballing here, Rodgers might make an announcement sometime closer to that event, perhaps even at the event.

It would be a very wrestling-like move.

And it would fit the tenor of McAfee’s show.

But that’s all conjecture at this point.

• With Wilson signing with the Giants, the Steelers are loading up in the compensatory pick market for 2026.

According to OvertheCap.com, which tracks future compensatory picks, the Steelers should get a third-round selection next year for Dan Moore Jr. signing with the Titans. Justin Fields’ deal with the Jets should net at least a fourth-round selection, while Wilson’s will get the Steelers no worse than a fifth-round compensatory pick. Finally, the deal that James Daniels signed with the Dolphins is expected to land the Steelers at least a sixth-round pick.

And, with the exception of Moore’s deal – the third round is as high as can be achieved – those could go up in value based on playing time.

With the maximum of four compensatory picks in 2026, in addition to their own selections, the Steelers will have plenty of firepower with which to attack acquiring a potential quarterback of the future in next year’s draft.

That’s why the mock drafts that keep coming out with the Steelers selecting a quarterback early in this draft don’t make a lot of sense, especially with Pittsburgh not having a second-round pick because of the trade for DK Metcalf.

The other big open spot in the lineup is at defensive tackle. Passing on a defensive tackle in the first round means the Steelers wouldn’t get another shot until the third round to get a player they might need to start in 2025.

• Thursday wasn’t exactly the kind of start the Pirates would have liked to have had to their season with Paul Skenes on the mound.

Blowing a late lead to a Marlins team that lost 100 games a year ago and isn’t picked to be much better in 2025 in the season opener was not ideal.

Doing it in the fashion in which they did so was even worse. The Pirates managed just four hits, though the Marlins made up for that by issuing seven walks and hitting two batters.

Worse, O’Neill Cruz in center field made two critical mistakes, first throwing home on a single with a 4-2 lead that allowed the tying run to advance into scoring position, then misplaying what should have been a double into a triple to the first batter in the bottom of the ninth.

Those mistakes compounded the other issue for the Pirates. Colin Holderman and David Bednar, who two years ago were both so good for the Pirates at the back end of their bullpen, were the pitchers giving up those runs. If Holderman and Bednar struggle as they did at times in 2024 – particularly Bednar – the Pirates are doomed.

The Pirates figure to get 30 or so starts out of Skenes this season. Giving away a game, as they did in the opener, isn’t the best way to take advantage of those starts. That’s especially true against a team picked to finish at the bottom of its division.

Dale Lolley hosts The Drive on Steelers Nation Radio and writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.