The opinions found in Asked and Answered do not reflect the views of the Steelers organization.
Let's get to it:
ERIC SMITH FROM WOODBRIDGE, CT: This is in response to a question you answered about tight ends. You said Health Miller is at the top of your list for tight ends. He can be No. 1, but I have suggestion for a No. 1b or a No. 2: Bennie Cunningham.
ANSWER: Based on the number of follow-up questions I've received about that particular submission, maybe I wasn't sufficiently clear or detailed with my answer. The original question had to do with TE tandems in Steelers history, and whether any could compare to the current duo of Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington. Dealing first with your suggestion of Bennie Cunningham, he doesn't qualify in the context of the original question because he played for the Steelers from 1976-85, and Heath Miller wasn't drafted by the team until 2005. Their careers never overlapped. Secondly, the point I was trying to make was Heath Miller was so accomplished and so reliable as a 2-way TE during his 11-year career with the Steelers that he essentially was a 1-man tandem all by himself. So my opinion of Heath Miller was such that pairing him with any other TE automatically made them the Steelers' best TE tandem. Because Freiermuth-Washington have a lot of career left, maybe they eventually eclipse Miller-(fill in the blank), but I'm not there yet.
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TIM SIVERD FROM SOUTH HILL, VA: Do you anticipate the Steelers making any trades before the deadline?
ANSWER: There very well could be an addition of a depth-type player, but I do not anticipate there being any kind of trade that would fall under the category of a blockbuster.
DAN GEISSINGER FROM LEHIGHTON, PA: You had a question on Oct. 29 about having a permanent team overseas. The NFL did have a league in Europe called the World League of American Football. It operated from 1991-1992 then stopped for a while and returned from 1995-2007. What happened to that league? Did it lack support in Europe?
ANSWER: The World League of American Football, later rebranded as NFL Europe, was a spring football league, and that's nothing like what the question was about. A spring football league never has been a success, because it's not the NFL, spring is not football season, and so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison to the NFL having a permanent team overseas. A permanent team overseas would compete in the fall-winter with the rest of the league for a chance to win a Super Bowl. The other major difference between a permanent NFL team overseas and the World League of American Football is that a permanent NFL team would be made up of actual NFL players and not guys hoping to showcase themselves and develop into NFL players. NFL Europe disintegrated because players hoping to create an NFL career for themselves decided it was better to be working in an offseason program with a team in America rather than playing – and risking injury – in Europe.
KIM OWENS FROM FREDERICK, MD: When a player gets signed off another team's practice squad, I know they have to go on that team's active roster. Does the team that lost the player get compensated?
ANSWER: No, it does not get any compensation.
ERIC HANSEN FROM DEATH VALLEY, CA: Would you say the Browns are the oldest rival of the Steelers?
ANSWER: The Cleveland Browns joined the NFL in 1950 after dominating the All-America Football Conference from 1946-49, and starting then they played the Steelers twice a season in every season except for 1996-1998 when Cleveland was without a team because Art Modell packed up the franchise and moved it to Baltimore. The Steelers have played the Browns more often (149 games) than any other NFL team, but their series against the Cardinals (1933), Bears (1934), Lions (1934), Giants (1933), Eagles (1933), and Washington (1933) all have been going on longer, but none of those series have been as bitter and laced with hatred as Steelers-Browns.
MICHAEL TORSIELLO FROM SUMMIT, NJ: It seems like the Guardian Caps have become a bit more refined and sleeker this year. Do you ever see it getting to the point where the league will mandate that players wear them?
ANSWER: I believe something like that would have to be collectively bargained.
MICHAEL TOTH FROM AKRON, OH: What special tactics does the defense deploy to contain a mobile QB like Deshaun Watson? If a "spy" is utilized is it the same player on every play, or does the spy change based upon personnel groupings?
ANSWER: I would say there is a difference between a mobile QB such as Deshaun Watson whose preference always is to throw the ball to one of his receivers and a running QB like Lamar Jackson who will pull the ball down and run 50 yards for a TD if he sees an opening. Dealing with mobility usually can be handled/negated if the pass rush is disciplined in the way it closes in on the QB. As examples, the outside pressure cannot get caught inside or end up behind the QB, and the interior guys should not allow vertical escape lanes. A disciplined pass rush would allow a defense to neutralize a QB's mobility without committing an extra player (a spy) who otherwise could be deployed in coverage.
KAREN HARPER FROM GREENSBURG, PA: You have answered several questions regarding officiating this fall so I'd like to share. My husband and I represented Steelers fans at the 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas. I embarrassed my husband by asking Commissioner Roger Goodell what he planned to do about officiating problems. His response? Steeler fans think there is a problem but there is not, which is not a quote, but basically what he said. Every fan I know no matter what team they follow sees a problem. When the Commissioner will not acknowledge that fact nothing will change.
ANSWER: Did you really expect the NFL Commissioner to admit to a fan in a public setting that he agrees there is a problem with his league's officiating? That's not the place for such a discussion. Roger Goodell is way too media savvy, and he has been too well-coached by his PR people, to step into that potential mess. I'm guessing the only time Goodell would be candid about his opinion on the officiating is when he's in a room with the 32 team owners. If then.
GANG LIU FROM TIANJIN, CHINA: Hello, I'm a Steelers fan from China. I'd like to ask: with the Colts possibly beginning a rebuilding process recently, could we improve our roster through a trade? For example, CB Sauce Gardner or WR Josh Downs? Or is it true, as rumored, that we're eager to trade for CB Riq Woolen? The DB position does look like a relatively weak area for us at the moment.
ANSWER: There just might be a lesson here in the idea of making a splashy trade acquisition with the idea that the player acquired is going to put your team over the top. The same Colts team that sent 2 No. 1 picks to the New York Jets for CB Sauce Gardner at the 2025 trade deadline is now selling off as many assets as it can at the 2026 trade deadline because of a 2-5 record that has it all but out of the playoff race before Halloween. When they acquired Gardner, the Colts assumed a contract that is a four-year, $120.4 million deal that will go right along with him to the team acquiring him in a trade. And in 10 games with Indianapolis, Gardner has 33 tackles, 0 interceptions, and 7 passes defensed. WR Josh Downs is in the final season of the contract he signed as a rookie in 2023 and can become an unrestricted free agent in March 2027. CB Riq Woolen also is playing on an expiring contract this season, and is part of an Eagles defense that currently ranks in the bottom third of the league in most statistical categories. None of the stats/facts I have listed for Gardner, Downs, and Woolen necessarily eliminate them as potential trade targets – and there is no credible evidence that the Steelers are serious suitors for any of them – but my sense of how the team will be approaching the Nov. 10 trading deadline is not being interested in adding marquee names with big contracts.
SCOTT RANDALL FROM CONWAY, SC: As of right now do we know what draft picks we would have if the draft were to start tomorrow? Do you think the team will stay with the course of action of letting our 2 rookie QBs battle it out next season to be the starter or do you think they may look at free agent QBs, too?
ANSWER: The draft does not start tomorrow. It's almost 5 full months away, and today the Steelers are playing a 1 p.m. game against a division rival for first place in the AFC North. I will not entertain any questions about draft picks, the 2027 NFL Draft, who might be available in that draft, and what the Steelers strategy might be next April 29 because this is the heart of an NFL regular season, and the team you're asking about happens to be in the thick of a playoff race. And just to be accurate, the Steelers do not have 2 rookie QBs on the roster – Drew Allar is a rookie, but Will Howard is a second-year pro.
RANDY MITCHELL FROM SAN DIEGO, CA: In the Saints game regarding the last-second field goal attempt by Chris Boswell where the Steelers had to rush onto the field. It was reported that they had to use a standard game ball instead of a K-ball. Who is in charge of getting the K-ball on the field? Is it the officials or the designated home team?
ANSWER: The game officials are in charge of getting footballs in and out of the game, and also spotting the ball for the next play. The home team has no input into that procedure.
CALEB DEWITT FROM INDIANA, PA: What was the purpose of putting Eli Heidenreich on the roster, yet when the team needed a RB, the Steelers called up Travis Homer and Lew Nichols from the practice squad, and since signed Nichols to the active roster. I don't recall Eli getting many carries if any.
ANSWER: I can't tell you what plans the Steelers might have for Eli Heidenreich, but I just get the sense that he's not quite ready to play NFL regular season football yet. Travis Homer is in his 8th NFL season, he is a core special teams player to the degree that he's capable of being the personal protector on the punt team, which means he calls out the blocking assignments to make sure the kick is not blocked, and with 7 special teams tackles he is tied-for-4th on the team in that category. I believe Lew Nichols is deployed deep alongside Kaden Wetjen on kickoff returns more as a complement/blocker than to be a guy featured as a returner. Nichols came into the league in 2023 as a seventh-round pick of the Green Bay Packers (235th overall) and has bounced around the league since then. And in the process of bouncing around the league for 4 years (2023-26), a player has to be showing something to keep teams interested in doing business with him. And said player also is accumulating experience and learning how the game is played. It seems to me that you're perceiving these moves/decisions by the Steelers as somehow being a sign of no confidence in Heidenreich, but I don't see it that way. Guys need time to adjust to the sport at the NFL level, and I believe that's especially true for someone who played college football at a service academy, where football was definitely not a priority for students at Annapolis. Be patient. Give it time. More importantly, give Heidenreich time, and if you're rooting for him to succeed, be happy the Steelers are giving him time to learn, adapt, and develop.
JIMMY CRUZ FROM TERRACE, CA: I read that the Steelers signed WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling to our practice squad a week or two ago, but I don't see his name on our practice squad. Did he get picked up by another team already?
ANSWER: Marquez Valdes-Scantling has been on the Steelers practice squad since he was signed on Oct. 20. He is listed as a member of the practice squad on the team roster that appears on Steelers.com. Check again.
