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PITTSBURGH — For the first time in his 15-year head coaching career, Mike Tomlin is entering an offseason without Ben Roethlisberger as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ franchise quarterback for the upcoming season.
While Roethlisberger, 39, has yet to make the official announcement, Tomlin said he’s “proceeding with the assumption” that the longtime quarterback won’t be playing next year. Earlier this season, Roethlisberger said “all signs” pointed to the Week 17 win against the Cleveland Browns being his final home game at Heinz Field. After the Steelers’ playoff exit against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Roethlisberger didn’t use the word retirement but called his 18-year career with the franchise “an honor” and said he is “looking forward” to the next chapter.
That means Tomlin is tasked with finding the Steelers’ next franchise quarterback.
“I’m excited about that — that challenge,” he said in his annual season wrap-up Tuesday. “Those of us that are competitors are. It’s a challenge, man. It kind of makes you uneasy. But I’ve learned to run to those challenges. I’ve learned to appreciate those challenges. The uncertainty surrounding them is inspiring to me in terms of producing work.”
The Steelers will undoubtedly bring in new arms to compete for the starting job, and Tomlin said he doesn’t care if the fresh faces come from free agency, a trade or the 2022 NFL draft.
“All options are on the table,” Tomlin said. “I enjoy working with [general manager] Kevin [Colbert] this time of year because we speak plain English. We have to improve our football team. There’s two major ways you do it. You do it to free agency, and you do it through the draft. We have to look at what’s available to us in the draft positionally. And we have to look at what’s available to us, potentially, in free agency, positionally, and then we kind of bring those two discussions together. And it kind of gives us a path in which to go about addressing our needs.”
With more cap flexibility…
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Source : espn
