Pittsburg, PA
Steelers mailbag: Should Pittsburgh embrace a rebuild?
The Pittsburgh Steelers enter an offseason that is different than any of the past 20 years. With Mike McCarthy now at the helm and another year of quarterback questions, is a soft rebuild what’s best for the Steelers? And what quarterback options are the best for 2026? That and more in this week’s mailbag.
Q: Please describe what would be considered a realistic tank season scenario. Keeping Rudy and Howard, and selecting a QB in the 3rd day of the Draft? Maybe even trading TJ? – Polamolicules_Dude
A: Something along those lines. Realistically, they should trade a lot of veterans. Trade Patrick Queen, trade T.J. Watt, trade Cam Heyward, trade Jalen Ramsey. Get as many picks in the 2027 draft as you can (they already have a ton of picks in this draft and the class isn’t highly-regarded).
Q: Hypothetically, let’s say that the new staff wants nothing to do with Rodgers, Rudolph, or Howard leaving Omar Khan to completely clean house at the position yet again. How would you build the QB room from scratch this off-season? – Blkgldtom
A: I would sign Malik Willis, draft a guy on Day Two or early Day Three (Drew Allar, Trinidad Chambliss), and then a veteran like Tyrod Taylor just to have a veteran in the room.
Q: Last time I asked in November, you in favor of picking up Broderick Jones’s 5th year option at $20M for 2027. I thought you were silly then, but you still riding with him? – AmperandSteel
A: Would lean no. Dylan Cook played well and if he can sustain that level of play, it wouldn’t make sense to pay so much more for Jones.
Q: I hear a lot of experts telling the rest of us that the Steelers “don’t have the draft capital to trade up” (as if it’s completely impossible for them to acquire the means.) If, hypothetically, the Steelers did want to trade up to the number one slot to take Mendoza, what would the actual price likely be? – SteelerSince73!
A: The Steelers aren’t trading up for the No. 1 pick. But, in a world where they would, they’d have to trade up at least twice. The Washington Commanders at No. 7 would be a team to target since they don’t need a quarterback and need edge rushers. Trade No. 21, one of their third-round picks, and either T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith to move up to No. 7. Then trade No. 7, their second-round pick, and next year’s first-round pick to get up to No. 1. It might cost more than that, too.
Q: 1. We seem to have some new coaching titles, like Chief Of Staff. What will these guys’ jobs entail? 2. Remind me of the deadline for Rodgers please. – steelwoman
A: Basically, he’s McCarthy’s right hand man. I don’t know what Scarnecchia’s exact duties will be, but he takes a bit of a load off McCarthy. In terms of a deadline, it was reported that the Steeles gave Rodgers a month to decide what he wants to do, and that was near the end of January, so I’d assume we’ll know one way or the other before March.
Let us know what you think in the comments. Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more!
Pittsburg, PA
Man’s body found underneath trailer behind former Shop ‘n Save in Carrick
Pittsburgh Police detectives are investigating after a man’s body was found underneath a trailer behind the former Shop ‘n Save store in the city’s Carrick neighborhood.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said late Monday night that detectives from the Violent Crime division responded to the area of Amanda Street and Wynoka Street in Carrick after a man’s body was found around 8:30 p.m.
Public Safety said the man’s body was found underneath a trailer and that he was pronounced dead by medics at the scene.
A photo provided by Pittsburgh Public Safety shows officers surrounding a taped off area and what appears to be a refrigerated trailer parked at the loading dock along Amanda Street behind the former Brownsville Shop n’ Save, which closed its doors last month.
No details surrounding the circumstances of the man’s death were provided by Public Safety, who said that the cause and the manner of the man’s death will be determined by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The man’s identity has not been released.
Public Safety said the investigation into the man’s death is “ongoing.”
Pittsburg, PA
Record number of peregrine falcons counted in Allegheny County
In the early 1960s, the peregrine falcon population declined so sharply that the raptors weren’t even nesting in Pennsylvania. But now, the National Aviary says a record number have been counted in Allegheny County.
The National Aviary says six peregrine falcons were recorded in the county during the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. The nation’s longest-running citizen science project collects data on bird populations for ornithologists, the aviary says. It also plays a role in guiding conservation action, like what was needed to bring peregrine falcons back from the brink of extinction.
Because of the use of DDT, peregrine falcons were no longer nesting in the state of Pennsylvania by the early 1960s, the aviary said. But after the harmful pesticide, which negatively affects reproduction rates in birds, was banned in 1972, conservation efforts have helped the peregrine falcon rebound. It was removed from the federal endangered species list in 1999 and Pennsylvania’s list in 2021.
The record number of peregrine falcons in Allegheny County is thanks in part to the nest on top of Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning in Oakland. For the past two years, biologists with the Pennsylvania Game Commission have banded chicks born in the nest. Three were banded last year, and two the year before that.
People can watch Carla and Ecco raise their family in the nest on a livestream camera run by the National Aviary. Carla laid her first egg of the breeding season on March 16 last year, so the aviary says the start of another season isn’t too far away.
Pittsburg, PA
Police investigating two late-night McKeesport shootings
Police are investigating two shootings that happened less than 30 minutes apart on Sunday night in McKeesport.
Two men were injured in the shootings that happened at two different locations.
Allegheny County Police said that the department’s Homicide Unit was requested and responded to assist in the shooting investigations.
According to police, officers were first called to the area of Lysle Boulevard and Huey Street, where a man was shot just after 10:30 p.m. on Sunday night.
KDKA’s news crew at the scene saw the outside of the Sunoco gas station along Lysle Boulevard lined with crime tape and what appeared to be blood on the front door of the store.
Police also had an area taped off around the intersection of nearby 5th Avenue and Huey Street. The man who was shot in the area was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Police said they are also investigating a shooting that happened in the area of an alleyway behind Madison Avenue, where another man was shot Dispatchers said the second shooting happened around 25 minutes after the first.
The two shooting scenes in McKeesport are located around 1/4 of a mile apart.
At the second shooting scene, KDKA’s news crew at the scene saw police taping off an alleyway between Madison Avenue and Petty Street.
Officers at the scene were shining flashlights and looking into a black sedan that had its flashers on. The man who was shot in the area of Madison Avenue was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Police didn’t specify if the two shootings are believed to be related.
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