As the Steelers Turn: Could they trade Brown to the Browns for the number 1 pick to select a QB?

... just more drama 

Ben is really mad at Todd. Antonio is mad at Ben. Ben is also mad at Artie II. Antionio is made at all his teammates. Ben is mad at Mike. Antonio is mad at Mike, too. Ben is mad at the media. Antonio is mad at the media, too. Ben is so mad that he is threatening to take his ball and go home. Mike is threatening to trade Antonio.

Yes, after a humiliating loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, raising Tom Brady's record over the Steelers to 10-2, everyone is upset, particularly the biggest salaried people who are paid to avoid such embarrassments.

Now, Ben is hammering Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley for his play-calling despite the fact that he has prospered under his system, putting up the best numbers of his career -- up to this year.

Ben is still mad at Art Rooney II for firing his buddy, former OC Bruce Arians, despite not having great passing numbers during those years.

Antonio is upset with Ben because Ben missed him wide open in the end zone when he gave the ball to DeAntonio Williams instead -- and DeAntonio scored.

Never mind. Antonio pouted.

Media bothering Ben

What is really galling Ben is people like Post-Gazette columnist Paul Zeise, and even Steeler fans, who are saying nasty things about him when compared to all-world Tom Brady.

Here is what Zeise wrote, in part, about Ben and his team and his coaches:

"The Patriots don’t beat the Steelers every time because they have better players or more talent; they beat the Steelers because they are much smarter, much more disciplined, tougher and far better coached.

"That is especially true at the quarterback position, by the way, as I don’t believe Tom Brady is more physically talented than Ben Roethlisberger (I’m talking pure tools, arm strength, size, athleticism, scrambling ability), but he is smarter, more disciplined, mentally tougher and yeah, coached better.

"Brady doesn’t try to be a hero, he just tries to win games. He is willing to 'settle' for making winning plays and he isn’t worried about anything other than winning football games. I don’t know that I can say the same thing about Roethlisberger, who sometimes seems enamored with padding his statistics and that leads him into making bad decisions."

Ouch. Brady is no more talented than Roethlisberger, but it is the other intangibles that have made him one of the two greatest QBs of his generation -- perhaps the best.

Zeise goes further, saying some things no other Pittsburgh media personality will. "I keep hearing some people trying to put Roethlisberger in that category among all-time greats, but until he beats Brady in the playoffs — like [Peyton] Manning did three times and [Joe} Flacco did twice — his resume has a huge hole in it."

Nationally

The national media have not been kind to Ben, either. USA Today wrote that "...Roethlisberger had a chance to close the gap between himself and the surefire future Hall of Famer. Instead, he fell woefully short of doing so as the Patriots beat the Steelers, 36-17, in the AFC Championship Game."

Trade Brown?

Steeler fans are just as bad, even those who have been believers in Ben. Here is what they are saying. Trade Antonio Brown to the Cleveland Browns for the first pick in the 2017 NFL draft, and pick a QB to replace Roethlisberger, who has said that he may not be back next year.

Brown will be in the final year of his contract, and he will want big bucks to stay in Pittsburgh. If they have to choose between Le'Veon Bell and Brown, Bell -- despite his off-the-field antics -- may be the better bet.

QBs out there

The Steelers have used a number 1 pick in the draft only three times for a QB. Twice that worked well, with Terry Bradshaw and Roethlisberger. The logic is that now may be the time to do so again even if it means giving up an outstanding receiver.

Mel Kiper lists these QBs at the top of his list, all of whom who could go in the first round:

1. Mitch Trubisky, North Carolina
2. Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech
3. Deshaun Watson, Clemson

Steelers did not want Ben 

When the Steelers used their 11th pick in the 2004 draft to take Roethlisberger out of Miami of Ohio, they did not want him. They were sold on Philip Rivers, but because Eli Manning, the overall number 1 pick, would not play on the West Coast, they ended up with #7.

Could Rivers have been a great QB if he went to a very good team like Roethlisberger did? The Steelers were loaded with a great running game, decent receivers, and a great defense. Who knows? Rivers certainly did not with the Chargers, but Ben may not have done much better with such a woeful franchise over the past 15 years.

The point is that you never know about drafting a top QB. Certainly, Watson won a national title with Clemson, and Trubisky did well with North Carolina.

But, would they do well with the Steelers? Would trading Brown do away with the Steeler offense? Would signing Bell be a mistake because of his previous drug use? Will Ben return in 2017?

Or, should the Steelers try to trade Ben to Cleveland for the number 1 pick, or to anyone else in the top 10?

Ben would not bring the return that Brown would because of his age. Brown could be expendable.

Or, will the Steelers do nothing?

That is more likely. They need to look to a top QB for the future, but do not expect that under the current regime. They will react, not act.

An injury to Roethlisberger could give us Landry Jones for the foreseeable future, though I like what I have seen of Zach Mettenberger on film. Still, he is not the wave of the future, either. 

Drafting about 30th will not give them a shot at a top QB, But Brady was a sixth-riound pick. Never know.

So, as the soap opera plays out and the finger pointing continues, there will likely not be a major change in the QB situation.