Despite meeting with and being linked to Shedeur Sanders prior to the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers passed on the quarterback three times when they had the opportunity to take him. A leading NFL insider might have offered some insight as to why they did.
In an appearance on “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” Albert Breer of The MMQB suggested Russell Wilson’s struggles last season might have been a deciding factor against the Steelers selecting Sanders. Coach Mike Tomlin liked Sanders, but he had also liked Wilson and stuck with the veteran quarterback even when most in the building wanted to go back to Justin Fields.
According to Breer, Tomlin might have been reluctant to go out on his own with a quarterback again after the Wilson situation ended so poorly.
“I think people there would tell you that the Russell Wilson thing undermines so many things in the last month of the season and that a lot of that building really wanted them to go back to Justin Fields,” Breer said, via Liam McKeone of SI. “And it was something where Tomlin was kind of, again, all on his own on that one. And I think it’s part of the reason why — Tomlin liked Shedeur going into the draft. But I don’t think Tomlin wanted to press that button again at quarterback after what happened with Russell at the end of the year last year.”
Reports suggested the Steelers did not necessarily see Sanders as a dynamic talent. Tomlin may have liked him more than the organization did as a whole, but going out on his own and vouching for another quarterback this soon after letting Wilson walk would have been a big risk.
Instead, the Steelers have more or less committed to waiting on Aaron Rodgers. That is a risk as well, but one could argue it is less of one than entrusting the organization to Sanders.
