Ben Roethlisberger will be coming back for another year in 2021. It is unclear if Ben Roethlisberger will retire at the end of the 2021 season or he will come back for another season in 2022. Regardless of what Ben Roethlisberger decides to do the Steelers need to start figuring out their plans for life after Ben Roethlisberger. If Ben does decide to hang it up after the 2021 season the Steelers will have no one at the quarterback position. Unless they decide to re-sign Mason Rudolph in the 2022 offseason.
Another option for the Pittsburgh Steelers could be to trade for a quarterback. If the New York Jets decided to draft quarterback Zach Wilson in the 2021 NFL draft that could be the end of Sam Darnold's time in New York. Albert Breer feels the two best landing spots for Sam Darnold would be the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers.
Breer on Darnold's Best Landing Spots: “I’d keep an eye on Carolina and Pittsburgh. Darnold would represent a worthy, and affordable, dart to throw at the quarterback board if the Panthers are convinced the quarterbacks they’d want will be gone by the time they pick at eighth (and Atlanta having the fourth pick doesn’t help them). As for the Steelers, if the price is right they could see some similarities in how Darnold plays to how their own quarterback did in his early 20s, and throw Darnold in there to compete with Dwayne Haskins to be Ben Roethlisberger’s heir. Washington and Denver have also come up as possible landing spots, though I know each had some misgivings on his tape.”
Kimberly Martin of ESPN says she has talked to three NFL GMs this offseason about Sam Darnold's market. She says two GMs said a 3rd round pick and one said even a late 3rd round pick would be a little rich. That GM ended up saying he would give a 3rd rounder or a conditional 4th round pick for Sam Darnold.
Jets Beat Writer Manish Mehta said the Jets are even open to trading Sam Darnold without getting a first-round pick. I don't think anyone in the NFL would give up a first-round pick for Sam Darnold, but I do believe a third-round pick would be pretty fair for Sam Darnold's services. I believe Darnold has some nice upside and he was just dealt a bad situation in New York. The Jets have been an absolute dumpster fire so it would be great for Darnold to get another opportunity with a team like the Steelers. The problem is do the Steelers give up a 3rd round pick? This season it would be hard to see, but if the Steelers want to give up a 2022 3rd round pick that would be manageable.
The Steelers just have so many holes to fill on their team right now. They need a running back, offensive linemen, outside linebacker, inside linebacker, and so many other needs right now. They do need a quarterback for the future too. It is just hard to see the Steelers giving up their draft capital in this season's NFL draft, but if they felt Darnold was a good pickup for a 3rd round pick I would be on board with it and think that is fair trade.