Mark Madden: Steelers' next quarterback is already on the roster

Aaron Rodgers has been publicly flirting with the Steelers on Pat McAfee’s satellite radio program. (McAfee knows good shtick when he hears it. I do, too.)

But there’s no chance Rodgers moves from Green Bay to Pittsburgh next offseason.

Why would Rodgers want to play behind that offensive line? Why would the Steelers want a 38-year-old quarterback who carries a $46.1 million cap hit next season?

Rodgers looks mostly brilliant now. But besides Tom Brady, every old quarterback hits a wall. The Steelers are currently learning that in painful fashion.

Many say the Steelers don’t have a succession plan at quarterback, but they do.

Mason Rudolph will be the starting quarterback for the Steelers in 2022. That’s guaranteed.

Rudolph won’t start for long. He will provide transition between Ben Roethlisberger and whoever the Steelers’ long-term replacement may be.

The Steelers have no idea who the latter is. He has yet to be drafted.

But Rudolph is the next starter. That was preordained when he signed a one-year contract extension this past April 29. His cap hit for next season is $4.3 million.

Some clamor for third-stringer Dwayne Haskins. But he hasn’t shown enough during his brief time with the Steelers, and was so bad at Washington that the Football Team released him before his second season ended. That marked the first time in 20 years that a QB drafted in the first round got cut that quick. (Here’s betting Haskins is out of the NFL in two years.)

Rudolph is a competent backup, performing OK in each of the 15 NFL games (including nine starts) he’s played.

Rudolph’s career passer rating is 82.7. That’s better than Roethlisberger’s so far this season.

Fans don’t like Rudolph because he looked weak and flustered during his 2019 confrontation with Cleveland’s Myles Garrett. Rudolph’s street cred got whittled down further when the citizens rallied behind Duck Hodges even though Rudolph clearly outperformed Hodges when both were called upon in ‘19 after Roethlisberger had elbow surgery.

The great unwashed can be suckers for a gimmick, no matter how lame. Quack, quack.

Since Terry Bradshaw joined the Steelers in 1970, there have only been three seasons where the quarterback that started the majority of the Steelers’ games wasn’t drafted by the team.

The team is run the way daddy did, and granddaddy did.

Rudolph will be the Steelers starting quarterback next season — if not sooner.

Beyond that, the Steelers might be positioned to get a fairly high first-round pick in the next draft, but it won’t be awash with quality quarterbacks. (That could lengthen Rudolph’s tenure.)

A few mock drafts have the Steelers taking Nevada QB Carson Strong, reminiscent of Roethlisberger at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds. (BTW, how dumb is a mock draft that’s conducted based on the standings after Week 4?)

Trading their first-round pick for 2020 to get safety Minkah Fitzpatrick in ‘19 was questionable then, perhaps more so now.

Fitzpatrick has made first-team All-Pro twice since joining the Steelers, but that hasn’t got them a playoff win.

A trade isn’t just about how good the player acquired turns out to be. First and foremost, a trade’s success hinges on helping your team achieve better results.

Roethlisberger’s elbow imploded during the Steelers’ second game in ’19, putting him out for the rest of the year.

The Steelers got Fitzpatrick by way of attempting to salvage a playoff berth. They didn’t.

Hodges started six games for the Steelers. He was awful. Hodges might be the worst quarterback in franchise history.

Fitzpatrick had major impact that season. In 14 games with the Steelers, he had five interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. He scored two touchdowns.

If the Steelers don’t acquire Fitzpatrick, maybe they lose two or three more games. Perhaps they finish low enough to draft Justin Herbert, who went to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 6 overall and looks like a franchise QB.

Finish middle, draft middle, stay middle. If Kevin Colbert retires as GM, the Steelers should hire Eddie Johnston.