Thursday, January 17, 2013
First-round QB for Pittsburgh?
By Tim Kavanagh
In any offseason, an NFL team will make changes to its roster for the ensuing campaign; this is the reality of the modern pro football landscape, as players hit free agency and veterans become no longer as useful as their contracted salary. For the teams that didn't qualify for the playoffs, there may be even more roster churn, seeing as the current group wasn't good enough; meanwhile, for teams stocked with aging veterans at key positions, it may be time to look ahead to the future.
This brings us to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who do have a fair amount of these veterans starting for them (especially on defense). But one position that many believed was locked in was QB, with Ben Roethlisberger in place. However, that doesn't mean that the club isn't considering a long-range plan. According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Steelers GM Kevin Colbert won't rule out drafting a QB this offseason, even as high as the first round.
"We won't close the door on any position in any round. We can't ... Once we get into free agency and the draft, I don't see any position that's off limits."
Intriguing, although with Roethlisberger still likely having several good seasons left in his career, that would seem to be a bit wasteful. We'll see just how serious they are about drafting a QB when the draft rolls around in April.
