INDIANAPOLIS — Right now, Kenny Pickett is all alone on the Pittsburgh Steelers depth chart.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need to add at least two, and likely three quarterbacks to their roster between now and the beginning of OTAs in May. Part of those additions will merely be for depth purposes, but the Steelers have also committed to providing competition for Pickett to be the team’s starting quarterback in 2024.
So what will that competition look like, and where might it come from? General manager Omar Khan said that he’s keeping his options open.
“There’s different avenues for us,” he said. “Draft, free agency, the trade market. I would say every one of those avenues is an option for us. …
“We’re looking at everything. I have an obligation to the players, to the front office, to every member of the Steelers Nation, to look at every option and every way of trying to improve this team and we’re going to do so.”
Omar Khan: Steelers Have ‘Full Faith’ in Kenny Pickett, Expect Improvement Under Arthur Smith
Asked specifically about potentially trading for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields — one of a number of rumored potential moves — Khan said that he would not get into specifics about the conversations he’s had around the league. Khan is not permitted to discuss players currently under contract to other teams, at any rate.
“I’m not gonna go into details about the conversations that we’ve had,” he said. “But like I mentioned earlier, I can tell you that I have an obligation to look at every avenue that’s out there to make us a better football team.”
tThe Steelers do have multiple potential quarterback options through each of the methods of acquisition that Khan mentioned, with Fields, former New York Jets first-round pick Zach Wilson and Washington Commanders starter Sam Howell all on the trade market; Denver Broncos starter Russell Wilson, Minnesota Vikings starter Kirk Cousins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers starter Baker Mayfield and former Tennessee Titans starter Ryan Tannehill on the free agent market. Finally, there are a half-dozen quarterbacks that are expected to be taken in the first three rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft.
One of those quarterbacks could also be Mason Rudolph, the Steelers’ internal free agent, but it’s looking like he will test the open market first.