Steelers GM Omar Khan Again Discounts Mason Rudolph Trade Rumors

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan once again reiterated that he has no plans to trade a quarterback in an appearance on the All Things Covered podcast with former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden on Sunday.

Khan also said two weeks ago that he had no intention of trading a quarterback, but since then, as the battle to be the team’s starer has coalesced around Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph has become a hot name in NFL trade rumors.

Once again asked about the possibility of making a trade, Khan again said he doesn’t see one on the horizon.

“I don’t anticipate it being any different,” Khan said. “Those three guys are in there. We feel very good about those three quarterbacks. They’re competing. Coach [Mike Tomlin] will decide how things will shake out. We feel good about the three we have on the roster.”

General managers have certainly been less than fully honest while publicly discussing their intentions before, so it’s hard to know how much to take Khan at his word in his first season running the team. His predecessor and mentor Kevin Colbert was usually frank in dealing with the media, but spoke only reticently. 

Still, Khan has plenty of reasons to want to keep all three quarterbacks. He was part of the organization in 2019, when the Steelers traded third-stringer Josh Dobbs and then went on to need fourth-stringer Devlin Hodges to play in eight games. The Steelers went 4-4 in the games Hodges played, and missed the playoffs by one game.

The Steelers also needed three quarterbacks in 2015, 2012, 2009, 2008, 2005, 2004and four in 2010. Each of the last two times the Steelers won the Super Bowl, they needed three quarterbacks to start games.

“We really like our room,” Khan said. “We have three starter-capable guys in that room between Mitch and Mason and Kenny. We feel there is a bright future for us with respect to that position, but time will tell. There’s still a lot of football.”

There are other concerns about trading Rudolph, as well. While the Steelers could clear $3 million from their 2022 salary cap obligations and likely net a draft pick in return, they could also get a compensatory pick if Rudolph leaves as a free agent.

Rudolph could change that calculus by requesting or demanding a trade, something that he didn’t rule out when speaking with the media last week.

“It’s too soon to say,” Rudolph said. “We’ll see. We’ve got another week. I want to keep to doing my job each and every day until Sunday and compete.”