"Sort Of Afraid": Steelers' Art Rooney II Has Insider Worrying About The Future In Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made a lot of exciting moves in the 2026 offseason. The franchise made significant upgrades to its wide receiver room, which has been one of its biggest weaknesses for the last two seasons. The organization also updated the secondary and both sides of the trenches. The team is gearing up to have a big season, as it hopes to capture its first playoff win since 2017. It still doesn't know what Aaron Rodgers will do, which could alter plenty of things.

Rodgers gives Pittsburgh the best chance to win the goal at hand, a Super Bowl, but he likely won't be enough. The roster is still too flawed, and the veterans are aging. 

One thing Steelers fans harp on is the fact that the team has not had a losing season since 2003, the longest streak in the NFL. The stretch still lives on, but it's becoming more of a curse than an accomplishment. Pittsburgh has been good enough to beat the bad teams, but often loses in big moments. Over the last seven years, the franchise has had elite stars on defense with TJ Watt, Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, among others.

Still, with that core, the Steelers were unable to win anything meaningful. Now, in 2026, with just Watt and Heyward, both of whom are aging out, the unwillingness to move on continues to delay the inevitable rebuild. 

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer recently appeared on his show, MMQB, where he discussed the Steelers and their potentially dark future. Breer mentioned that Owner Art Rooney II doesn't want the team to be bad, which is obvious. 

No owner wants his or her team to be bad, but sometimes it's necessary for the future. With the aging veterans on the team and very little optimism at the quarterback position, the Steelers are potentially gearing up for a massive rebuild in the coming years. 

"I think deep down in his gut, Art Rooney doesn't want to be bad again. You know what I mean? Like Art Rooney and that franchise, they do not want to sink to the bottom of the league," Breer said. "I'm sort of afraid that's what it's going to require, you know?"

One major flaw that the team has had is completely neglecting the offensive side of the football. As a defensive head coach, Mike Tomlin spent a lot of the money on defense — often the most in the NFL. He also employed some questionable offensive coordinators on his staff as well. 

This consistently left very little hope for his offenses to really take strides. This is ultimately what tanked the development of any young quarterback that was brought in. This has recently left the team with the decisions to have to bring Rodgers and Russell Wilson, who are at the end of their careers.

Steelers Do Not Have Much Time

Two of the biggest moves the Steelers made in 2026 offseason were bringing in Michael Pittman Jr and Jamel Dean. These are two established veterans who can help the team win now, but for how long? Pittman is 28 and will turn 29 in October. He is creeping up on 30, which is when wide receivers start to show signs of decline. 

The same goes with Dean, who will also turn 30 in October. Cornerbacks have short primes, and while Dean is coming off an excellent season, it's unclear how long he can keep up that production as he begins to age. Hopefully, the Steelers find their Drake Maye in the 2027 NFL Draft, who is a young quarterback who had plenty of growing pains in his first season, but showed tremendous improvement in year two. 

However, potentially Drew Allar or Will Howard could take leaps under Mike McCarthy, and one could become a quality starter early on. That would certainly make the team's life much easier. Fans will have to see how things unfold, but a rebuild certainly seems to be in the playing cards for the Steelers' near future.

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