The Pittsburgh Steelers have completely redone their quarterback room this offseason, trading Kenny Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles and allowing Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph to sign with new teams. In their place, the Steelers added former Denver Broncos signal-caller Russell Wilson and then sent a conditional sixth-round pick to the Chicago Bears for their former first-round pick, Justin Fields. Now, Pittsburgh has added a third quarterback.
On Monday, Steelers general manager Omar Khan told reporters that the team had agreed to terms with quarterback Kyle Allen, per ESPN. Allen spent the 2023 season with the Buffalo Bills, meaning Pittsburgh and Buffalo have now virtually switched backup quarterbacks, with Trubisky signing with the Bills and Allen agreeing to terms with Pittsburgh.
Allen went undrafted out of Houston in 2018 and got his first shot with the Carolina Panthers. He started in 13 total games for the Panthers over his first two NFL seasons, going 6-7 while throwing for 3,588 yards, 19 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 15 total games played.
In 2020, Allen was traded to the Washington Football Team for a fifth-round pick, reuniting him with head coach Ron Rivera. Allen started just four games for Washington, going 1-3 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. In 2022, Allen signed with the Houston Texans. He started two games, losing both.
In all, Allen has played in 30 NFL games — including 19 as starter (7-12 record) — and has thrown for 4,734 yards, 26 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. Allen is the presumed QB3 in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers QB depth chart is truly unknown. Head coach Mike Tomlin said Wilson is in “pole position,” but it’s fair to say he will have to earn that job when this new-look team takes the practice field.
Left for dead in mid-December, the Pittsburgh Steelers are heading back to the playoffs anyway.
Pittsburgh clinched a wild-card spot Sunday when Tennessee upset Jacksonville, giving the Steelers (10-7) a playoff berth that seemed unlikely following a three-game skid that included losses to lowly Arizona and New England.
Coach Mike Tomlin inserted third-stringer Mason Rudolph at quarterback after getting blown out at Indianapolis on Dec. 16, and Rudolph responded by helping Pittsburgh reel off three consecutive wins over Cincinnati, Seattle and AFC North champion Baltimore on Saturday.
The Steelers will be either the sixth or seventh seed in the AFC, pending the result of Buffalo’s Sunday night game against Miami. A Dolphins win would send Pittsburgh to Kansas City next weekend, and a Bills victory would bring the Steelers to Buffalo. If Miami-Buffalo is a tie, the Dolphins will host the Steelers.
Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game since beating Kansas City in the divisional round of the 2016 postseason. The Steelers have lost each of their last four playoff games decisively, falling to New England in the 2016 AFC Championship, Jacksonville in the division round in 2017, Cleveland in the first round in 2020 and Kansas City in the first round in 2021.
Pittsburgh will have to move forward without star outside linebacker T.J. Watt. The perennial All-Pro and Defensive Player of the Year candidate left the victory over Baltimore with a knee injury that is expected to sideline him indefinitely.
J.J. Watt — T.J.’s retired brother — wrote on social media that the Steelers’ star pass-rusher has a Grade 2 MCL strain and the expectation is he’ll need a “couple weeks of rest/recovery.
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