Rick Spielman in the GM Running for a Historic Franchise
Following the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger and the stepping down of longtime GM Kevin Colbert, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a franchise under construction. Because of that, they are in the middle of one of the most extensive GM searches we’ve ever seen. This wide net of candidates has now caught former Vikings GM, Rick Spielman.
The Steelers have confirmed interviews with 13 different candidates now, easily the most of any team that has searched for a GM this offseason. This latest batch of candidates alongside Spielman were former New York Giants GM Jerry Reese and Doug Whaley, who spent a decade under Colbert in Pittsburgh before going to Buffalo in 2010.
Reese famously won a pair of Super Bowls with the Giants from 2007-17 with Eli Manning at QB. Meanwhile, the Steelers won a pair of Super Bowls as well while Whaley was with the organization. He left for the Bills as an assistant GM and was promoted to GM in 2013. Buffalo never made the playoffs with him at the helm, going 30-34 per Pro Football Reference.
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Of course, Rick Spielman has never won a Super Bowl throughout his 17-year career in NFL front offices. He spent 16 of those seasons as either the de facto GM or official GM with the Minnesota Vikings. With Minnesota, he had a number of successful seasons, buildings six playoff teams. He was of course fired this offseason along with head coach Mike Zimmer as the Vikings look to go in a different direction in 2022. Despite this, the Vikings have kept a number of his veteran players on board.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the most storied franchises in NFL history, so it makes sense that they would be extremely thorough in this search. They have enjoyed one of the more impressive stretches of competitive football too. Since Mike Tomlin became head coach in 2007, the Steelers have enjoyed 15 consecutive seasons where they have not played sub-.500 football.
As long as Tomlin is the head coach, this team will look to continue play competitive ball, even as the AFC North becomes more star-studded. 2022 may prove to be the biggest challenge that Tomlin has ever faced. The division now features QBs named Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow while Pittsburgh will run out Mitchell Trubisky. They will need to find a GM that can build an extremely well-rounded roster in order to remain competitive, and Spielman may be the guy calling the shots.