The steelers may need a quarterback room made up of kenny pickett and mason rudolph, but that is not necessarily the case since rudolph is expected to enter free agency. If they do not sign him, ryan tannehill, who is about to enter free agency as well as have connections to new offensive coordinator arthur smith, would be the obvious choice. What would a tannehill deal look like, and how much would it cost the steelers? Pro football focus’ brad spielberger has a knack for predicting contract numbers over the years.
His prediction for a tannehill contract is 2-years, $11 million, or $5.5 million per year. In an update on the quarterback market last sunday, nfl network insiders tom pelissero, ian rapoport, and mike garafolo compiled what they heard about each position that could see quarterback turnover. With pittsburgh, they’re apparently going to consider adding tannehill to their roster. “without new offensive coordinator arthur smith, pittsburgh is expected to consider adding free agent ryan tannehill, who had his best years with the titans while smith was the oc there,” they wrote. Overall, the titans had a good season with smith at the helm, including a trip to the afc championship, but things will be different this season.
But that does not mean that tannehill will be a free agent and that he could end up in pittsburgh. Smith will introduce a new model and playbook. The first and most important task for the new coaching staff will be to get pickett up to speed in the new offense. They won’t have much time to spare him. It makes a lot of sense if the second quarterback is someone who is familiar with smith’s offensive scheme and playbook. As the steelers are likely to add a veteran quarterback, that new quarterback could be almost like a second quarterback coach — they need one of those as well — in the room alongside pickett and possibly another younger passer.
He posted a 92.8 passer rating, 6.71 adjusted yards per attempt, and 70% completion rate in his three games since returning from injury late in 2023. All of these figures are higher than pickett had predicted in 2023. Tannehill was tennessee’s starter from the moment smith first introduced him to this season, when he was usurped by will levis while he was out with injury.
