Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe is very critical of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin's lack of plan at quarterback.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have not won a playoff game with another quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger retired following the 2021 season. It has been a revolving carousel for the Steelers, but Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe believes that is on head coach Mike Tomlin.
"When Ben was getting old, not the last year, but when Ben was getting old, did they go out and get another quarterback," Sharpe asked on his "Nightcap" podcast. "When [Brett] Favre was getting old, what did the Packers do? They went and got [Aaron] Rodgers . When Rodgers was getting old, what did they do? They went out and got Jordan Love . When Ben Roethlisberger was getting old, what did they do? They let him wither on the vine. That's Tomlin."
The Steelers offense wasn't even pretty to watch at times near the end of Roethlisberger's career as he played a part in four straight losses in the postseason before hanging up his cleats for good. But they stuck with their long-time quarterback and did very little to find his replacement during that time.
Pittsburgh has since increased that streak to six straight playoff losses, leaving the team with questions of how to end the franchise's longest postseason win drought.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph in a playoff game against the Buffalo Bills on Jan. 15, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The obvious answer is finding its next franchise quarterback, but that has not been easy.
The Steelers have had five different starting quarterbacks in the three seasons since Roethlisberger retired — Mitchell Trubisky , Kenny Pickett , Mason Rudolph , Russell Wilson and Justin Fields . They could make it six in 2025, depending how the next few weeks play out.
President Art Rooney II said it would be his preference to bring back one of Wilson or Fields for next season.
"I think they're both capable quarterbacks and my preference would be to sign one of them," Rooney said. "So that'll be the priority, and I think that will give us the best opportunity to move forward."
However, there's a scenario that neither return with other suitors on the open market.
If that's how things play out, Sharpe's criticism of Tomlin and the Steelers organization is even more deserved as they'll be stuck in quarterback purgatory for yet another year.
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