"You don't have to be a mathematician to figure it out. When you have a rookie quarterback that's starting for you, it gives you options."
This was Omar Khan, Monday morning at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, where he and Mike Tomlin were conducting the Steelers' annual pre-NFL Draft press conference. Both with broad smiles throughout. Broad enough that ... you know, I'm not really sure how best to describe it other than to suggest they both looked like they were licking their lips as $100 ribeyes were about to be served.
Maybe that'll happen, too, come Thursday or Friday. Better yet, maybe they're already anticipating as much.
Because elsewhere on these same grounds on this same morning, Kenny Pickett was working out with several of his teammates as part of the offseason workouts that began a week ago, and he was doing so as that rarest of rare commodities in the NFL: A reasonably paid franchise quarterback.
That's what Khan was referencing above, of course. More and more across the league, teams are discussing openly the value -- no, the outright urgency -- to set their sights the highest while a quality starting quarterback's still on his rookie contract. Which Kenny is, now entering the second season of a four-year, $14,067,905 term that accounts for a cap hit of only $3,197,251, a pittance relative to his more experienced peers at the position, ranking 37th in the league.
The current top five, per Spotrac:
• Patrick Mahomes, $39,693,381
• Ryan Tannehill, $36,600,000
• Lamar Jackson, $32,416,000 (franchise)
• Jared Goff, $30,975,000
• Dak Prescott, $26,832,647
Oh, and before wondering how or if Kenny might fit into that stratosphere, know that Jalen Hurts' fresh five-year, $255,000,000 extension with the Eagles doesn't kick in until the 2024 season, after which his annual salary will be ... um, $51 million. Also know that there are nine other quarterbacks right now with cap hits of $15 million-plus. And that Joe Burrow's yet to get his looming mega-contract in Cincinnati, which might blow 'em all out of the figurative water.
That's just the new reality that leads to the new thinking: Quarterbacks are so important, and the competition for their services so intense, that they can consume up to a quarter of a 53-man roster's entire payroll. In turn, it's smarter to try to win it all while they're still young enough, still affordable enough for a GM to surround them with the strongest possible supporting cast.
And that right there, my friends, is why I loved the broad smiles I saw from Tomlin and Khan here.
Khan's new at this, but I'd never seen Tomlin like that in years of covering this particular press conference. He was cracking jokes, injecting his own responses to questions even when not sought, even engaging in blatant humanizing with some of the beat writers. It was ... different. And unless he's invested the bulk of his spring in perfecting his poker face, this very much came across like a man who knows he's about to love what's coming down this weekend.
Take that for what it's worth. Nothing more.
What appears certain, at least from my perspective, is that neither Tomlin nor Khan made any secret of the following:
1. They'd love to trade up.
There's standard BS on this front, and then there's both men sounding like toddlers in a candy store at the prospect of moving up from their No. 17 overall position. Whereas, in the past, that's been nothing more than a throwaway line from Kevin Colbert about how, "We're always open to it."
This time, it was Tomlin saying when asked how he'd prefer to utilize the Steelers' draft capital, by hitting a top-10 home run or by amassing multiple assets, "You give me a specific player, opportunity, I'll probably have a more definitive answer. We're not opposed to moving up in an effort to pinpoint someone that might be special. But we do truly believe there's great depth in this draft. We're ready and comfortable for whatever."
That might not send much of a message to most. But I've heard this man use the term "special" in this context, and it's always been when he's hungry to chase someone or something higher.
2. They'd love to trade down.
How can it be both?
Simple: They were pretty much putting the No. 32 overall pick -- the first of Day 2 and the one the Bears insanely gave up for Chase Claypool -- up for an eBay auction, with Tomlin going so far as to specifically state, "Being in that position, we're acknowledging we're not quarterback shopping. That position might be one that attracts quarterback shoppers. So, it's exciting to see what might transpire with some of those phone calls, the value that we might be able to get. It is a unique position for us to be in. We are very excited about it."
Yep. First time ever in Tomlin's tenure, actually, that the Steelers will have the first pick on any day of any draft. And that, as history shows, gives the other 31 teams all day long to dream about having their pick of anyone who fell out of the first round.
How many have already called?
"By the time it's over," was how Khan would answer that, "we expect we'll hear from everyone."
Oh, my.
Here again, I'd never seen this before at one of these press conferences.
3. This isn't thinking small.
Like, at all.
Let's be real: If all the front office did this weekend was to execute the picks at hand, led by Nos. 17, 32 and 49, there wouldn't be a solitary complaint. They'll find impact with the first two, maybe even the third, and anything else would be a bonus.
But that's not this. That's not what has these two scraping their forks and knives together.
Rather, it might be Jalen Carter, the premier defensive lineman in the class. He's out of Georgia, he's a 6-foot-3, 300-pound terror, and even with character issues having arisen, he's a top-10 on most every mock.
Tomlin was asked about character issues, with no mention of Carter, and responded, "When there's character questions, we simply do the work. Doing the work is boots on the ground, relationships in their town, getting information about their day-to-day from people in those environments. It's about interviewing them, talking to them about their past, what they learned, the steps they've taken in an effort to improve. It's professional research, private investigation. We utilize all the tools at our disposal to gain enough information to make an appropriate decision on subjects such as that. At the end of the day, we make a Steelers decision, and we go with it."
That wasn't a no.
It might be Paris Johnson Jr., one of the top offensive tackles in the class. He's out of Ohio State, he's born to be a tackle at 6-6, 313 pounds with a 36 1/8-inch arm length, and he'd possibly be the missing piece on an almost wholly rebuilt line in protecting Kenny's blind side.
Khan was asked if the O-line was a finished product with the recent free-agency signing of Isaac Seumalo, and responded, "I think any opportunity we have to add competition, regardless of position, we're going to look at it. If it helps us, it helps us. I’ve said it from the very beginning, my job is to bring competition to every position possible. If drafting a certain player allows that and he’s somebody we’ve targeted, we'll go after it."
Johnson won't last till No. 17.
It might be Christian Gonzalez, one of the top cornerbacks in the class. He's out of Oregon, he's universally acclaimed as the most athletic player available at the position -- 4.38-second 40-yard dash, 41.5-inch vertical -- and he's got competitive stature at 6-1, 193.
Stay at No. 17, he'll be long gone, and the cornerback consolation prize will be Joey Porter Jr. But go for Gonzalez at the roster's single greatest position of immediate need and ... yeah.
See what I mean?
This is when to adopt this approach. It surely won't feel that way for some, coming off a down-then-up 9-8 season that was dragged down by change at several key positions, injuries at others, but it really is.
Even looking past the quarterback-cap factor, it's got to be underscored that T.J. Watt, the team's best player, turns 29 in October. That's not old, but it's not young. And when grouping T.J. with Minkah Fitzpatrick and Cam Heyward, who turns 34 in a couple weeks, the blessing of having top-tier talents at each of the defense's three main facets -- the front, the linebackers, the secondary -- that won't last forever.
Throwing a bunch of wait-and-hope picks at the cause won't do it. The forks and knives will.
Let the teeth gnash.
