4 reasons why Mike Tomlin’s winning-season streak is actually bad for the Steelers

1. The Pittsburgh Steelers will never be bad enough to draft a high-quality franchise quarterback

The first goal every team sets out to accomplish each season is to win its division. This guarantees at least one home playoff game, possibly a first-round bye if you are the best team in your conference. The easiest way to win your division on the regular is to have the best quarterback in the division. Right now, the Steelers are coming up fourth in that department in the AFC North. That must change.

In the wake of Ben Roethlisberger's retirement two years ago, the Steelers reached on local product Kenny Pickett out of Pitt. He was the only quarterback taken in the first round in the weak 2022 NFL Draft. Two years later, he looks like he is well on his way out of Pittsburgh. I appreciate the Steelers taking a big swing there, but they painted themselves into a corner when it came to drafting a star.

While players and coaches don't tank, organizations do. Not to say the Steelers should ever do that, but picking in and around the top 10 would do them a world of good. The last time they were that bad, they took Big Ben out of Miami (OH) in 2004. Pittsburgh gained its second hall-of-fame quarterback ever in that draft. You need to pick in the top 10 to give you a great shot at a Big Ben or a Terry Bradshaw.

It is hard to win a division with great regularity without a franchise quarterback who went top-10-ish.