The Steelers will play the San Francisco 49ers in nine days at home, but that does not mean more roster shuffling could occur. With the New England Patriots looking around the NFL for quarterbacks to backup Mac Jones, one pundit proposed that the Steelers should look to trade Mason Rudolph to New England.
Christopher Kline of Fansided proposed that New England trade a fifth-round pick to Pittsburgh for Rudolph to backup Jones. For Kline, it makes sense for security if Jones gets hurt or does not play well to the expectations that the Patriots may have for him in his third season.
“The Steelers are fairly loaded at the QB position right now. Both Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph are solid, maybe even above-average backups with very little opportunity to play so long as Kenny Pickett is healthy,” Kline worte. “New England doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel here, but there’s no reason to keep Zappe off the 53-man roster unless there’s a genuine crisis of faith. Rudolph is the best affordable option theoretically on the market. Time for Belichick to pick up the phone.”
When Rudolph signed back with the Steelers, it came as a surprise, but the market supposedly dried up for the third-string quarterback of the Steelers. There is value in having Rudolph around, though. Should Pickett and Trubisky suffer injuries, Rudolph is a very servicable third quarterback to come in for a pinch. The Steelers, as such, have a solid backup quarterback sitaution behind Pickett with two experienced players.
A fifth-round pick for Rudolph is something that Omar Khan should simply not turn down, though. I do have questions about why New England would do the deal. Quarterback uncertainty aside, they did sign Zappe and Matt Corral to the practice squad in what seems like a likely quarterback competition between the two for who gets to be Jones’ backup quarterback at this point. Rudolph can provide a certain floor as a veteran, but it still seems rich for a backup. If Jones ever got injured, perhaps that is when the needle could be moved.