The Pittsburgh Steelers are spinning their wheels.

For a franchise that proudly displays its six Lombardi Trophies inside the Great Hall of Acrisure Stadium, a stark reality is setting in.

Despite reaching the postseason each of the past three seasons, five of the last six years, Pittsburgh feels further than ever from a ninth Super Bowl appearance. In fact, it is becoming easier by the year to see why the Steelers haven’t won a single playoff game since the literal final week of the Obama Administration.

For years, the Rooney family has seemed far more content with constructing an elite defense that embodies the hardworking grit of the Allegheny Valley than with doing the actual heavy lifting of a modern rebuild.

By refusing to take the hard medicine required to reset the clock at quarterback, or doing the hard work to identify, mine, and develop a franchise quarterback, Pittsburgh has altered the standard. The Steelers have slipped from being the NFL's crown jewel of success to an organization entirely satisfied with just filling seats in early January.

Never has this been more evident than hiring a retread head coach, in local hero Mike McCarthy, and being held hostage for the second consecutive offseason by a quarterback who was outscored by the Houston Texans’ defense in a playoff collapse inside Acrisure Stadium back in January and surpassed 250 passing yards just twice over the final four weeks of the season.

At some point, there needs to be a genuine conversation about general manager Omar Khan squandering an elite defense because of an inability to course correct at quarterback.

At some point, Omar Khan would have been wise to float the likes of T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, or Nick Herbig in trade conversations.

Stalking the top of the draft board requires stockpiling premium draft capital. Sucking it up and suffering through one losing season is a small price to pay to mine a franchise quarterback … the only kind of player who can truly give them a reason to expand that trophy case.

That point, wasn’t this offseason, though …

QB - Aaron Rodgers, WR - Michael Pittman Jr., CB - Jamel Dean, S - Jaquan Brisker, RB - Rico Dowdle

The only move that really matters, that the Steelers made this offseason, was the one that was wholly unnecessary.

Pittsburgh could have leveraged McCarthy’s reputation of getting the most out of the quarterback position into staging a spring and summer-long quarterback competition between second-year passer Will Howard and third-round rookie Drew Allar, working towards fixing each of their mechanics, evaluating their futures, and preparing to decide whether it’s even necessary to get to the top of the draft board and a loaded incoming class of quarterbacks next spring.

Instead, the Steelers descended another rung deeper into quarterback purgatory, all sights set on winning nine games at all costs, and will likely spend next March and April figuring out how to finally get younger at the position, from the No. 22 overall pick in the first round.

Khan and the Steelers do deserve a modicum of credit for exploiting a bizarre market gift.

The Colts inexplicably bailed on Michael Pittman Jr. to ensure deep-threat Alec Pierce wouldn’t leave Indianapolis. As a result, Pittsburgh walked away with a robust, highly physical weapon for Rodgers.

Pittman, 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, is a big-bodied and reliable possession receiver who just happened to fall deep into Pierce’s shadow. He did, though, catch seven touchdowns while averaging 3.4 yards after the catch per reception.

Between DK Metcalf, tight end Pat Freiermuth, and Pittman, Rodgers and the Steelers may have the pieces to climb the ladder from an offense that converted just 56.8 percent of trips into the red zone into touchdowns, as the 18th-ranked red zone offense in the league, last season.

Signing Dowdle is simultaneously a $12.5 investment in added balance on offense and a bet that the 27-year-old continues on the upward trajectory that saw him explode out to 1,076 yards and a career-high six rushing touchdowns last season.

Defensively, Pittsburgh’s invested some big resources into the secondary, thanks to the arrivals of cornerback Jamel Dean and safety Jaquan Brisker, who each provide veteran stability in a defensive backfield that was wildly inconsistent last season.

LG - Isaac Seumalo, WR - Calvin Austin, RB - Kenneth Gainwell

Pittsburgh did a solid job of mitigating losing a handful of veterans this offseason by prioritizing those positions in the draft, free agency, and the trade market, in an effort to ensure their departure from the roster doesn’t impact the results on the field.

Seumalo cashed in on a three-year deal worth $31.5 million with the Arizona Cardinals, after allowing just three sacks last season. Rookie guard Gennings Dunker was a player who saw his stock rise exponentially during the pre-draft process.

Meanwhile, the impact of Austin’s departure is largely offset by Pittman’s arrival, and Dowdle could potentially be an upgrade over Gainwell in the Steelers’ running back rotation, if not a legitimate three-down back alongside Rodgers in the backfield.

OT - Max Iheanacher, WR - Germie Bernard, OG - Gennings Dunker

After having the Philadelphia Eagles trade up to select Makai Lemon, while Khan was on the phone with the former USC star, the Steelers pivoted to secure one of the more gifted offensive tackles in a top-heavy class at the position, in Arizona State’s Max Iheanacher.

Iheanacher is a plug-and-play starter at right tackle, after not allowing a sack in his final season in Tempe, and at 6-foot-6 and 330 pounds is the kind of road grader who can help propel Dowdle and the Steelers’ backs quickly to the second level.

Meanwhile, Dunker was one of the best value selections by any team in the draft, with the third-round pick likely earmarked to not just compete for a starting job with Spencer Anderson at left guard but possibly start his career as Pittsburgh’s swing guard.

Bernard, 6-foot-1 and 204 pounds, fits the profile of the kind of wide receiver that the Steelers have tried to collect over the past several years, and slides immediately into the starting slot role in Rodgers’ supporting cast.

Last season at Alabama, Bernard set new career-highs with 64 receptions for 862 yards and seven touchdowns, thanks to his smooth route-running and physicality as a willing blocker in the running game. He should make a significant and immediate impact on the Steelers’ offense.

Whatever upgrades the Steelers made this offseason — and the arrivals of Pittman, Brisker, Dean, Iheanacher, Bernard and Dunker each have the potential to be significant, genuinely feel as though they don’t meaningfully raise the 10-win ceiling that Rodgers at quarterback seems to build over Pittsburgh’s 2026 campaign ahead.

It’s only June, but it already feels inevitable that this season will play out the way so many on the Confluence have over the past decade. A grueling closing stretch against a playoff-bound Carolina squad, a late-season trip to a rapidly rebuilding Tennessee, and a brutal finale at M&T Bank Stadium against the bitter rival Ravens will ultimately decide the Steelers’ postseason fate.

And then?

The suddenly time-honored tradition of getting boat-raced out of the wildcard round by a more talented, balanced roster with premier quarterback play leading the charge.

Even that may be a stretch, though, thanks to the Ravens beefing up their pass rush and defense broadly this offseason, and the Cincinnati Bengals dumping significant resources into their defense to buttress Joe Burrow and a prolific offensive attack.

Maybe Khan, the Rooneys, and McCarthy will be right, though.

Maybe Rodgers will rediscover the 4,115-yard, 37-touchdown and four-interception form that propelled him to MVP honors … in 2021.

More likely, though, Rodgers’ mediocrity will be just enough to propel the Steelers to another mediocre season and postseason appearance that seems to make everyone involved so satisfied lately.