The past few years have felt like Groundhog Day for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’ve finished 10-7 in each of the last three seasons and gotten crushed in the first round of the playoffs. However, Mike Tomlin resigned recently, so there’s a chance that the Steelers could break that cycle in 2026. James Harrison doesn’t think they can compete for a Super Bowl, though. Therefore, he wants them to hit rock bottom.
“This is a rebuild,” Harrison said Friday on his Deebo and Joe podcast. “Period. I know the Steelers don’t want to say that or don’t want to believe that. If you don’t want to say it because it sounds bad, but if you actually believe it, that’s worse.
“Because the reality of it is that we have to actually rebuild this thing. We are going to have to have, and I call it this, a first or second pick losing season if we want to get a franchise quarterback.”
The Steelers have had a top-10 pick just twice since 2000, and they traded up to get in that range one of those times. They haven’t had the first overall pick since 1970 when they selected Terry Bradshaw. They went 1-13 the season before to earn that slot.
The Las Vegas Raiders own the first overall selection in this year’s draft after going 3-14 in 2025. Likewise, the Tennessee Titans were 3-14 in 2024, and that got them the first pick in the 2025 draft.
The Steelers haven’t been that bad since the year before drafting Bradshaw. So, they’d have to not just be bad, but historically bad if they want to pick near the top of the 2027 draft.
It’s easy to say that, but that’s not necessarily a good strategy. Players and coaches don’t want to be that bad. It hurts morale. Also, tanking doesn’t always work. There are several teams that routinely pick near the top of the draft, but that hasn’t helped them find any success. The Steelers shouldn’t want to be in company with the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets.
The top quarterbacks don’t always pan out, either. C.J. Stroud looked great his rookie year, but he’s declined since then. Conversely, a good prospect can be hindered by a bad situation. Trevor Lawrence was seen as a generational prospect, and he was selected with the first pick in 2021 draft. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars struggled to really let him shine until recently.
The Steelers’ new head coach might not make a good impression by leading the team to its worst season in over 50 years. Especially because he will be compared to Tomlin, who never even had a losing season. Do the Steelers need a franchise quarterback? Yes. However, they don’t have to be terrible to accomplish that.