First Call: Bill Cowher and Bill Belichick on Steelers' QBs; Steelers' Brandon Aiyuk offer influenced 49ers

Bill Cowher and Bill Belichick are both weighing in on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive woes in the preseason.

We have a new angle to the Brandon Aiyuk contract negotiations. And the Pirates and Rangers are at a mutual breaking point in Texas.

All that to come in Tuesday’s “First Call.”

‘Cowher Power’ pontificates

Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher was a guest on Monday’s “Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN. Despite a call to the contrary from many others in the national media, the CBS studio host suggests that Mike Tomlin would be best served starting Russell Wilson at quarterback instead of Justin Fields.

"If I'm Mike Tomlin I would start the season with Russell Wilson..

I would take the pressure off of Justin Fields and see if Russell can take it and run with it"@CowherCBS #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/UL1AMrGtG4

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 19, 2024

“You start the season with Russell,” Cowher said. “If Justin Fields starts as the second guy, have a package of plays. If all of a sudden you need a spark — something to get your offense going again — put (Fields) in. If you have to take Russell out, he’s been there before. It’s not going to destroy his confidence. I don’t want to start Justin Fields and then feel like I have to make a change and take him out. Limit the expectations on Justin Fields. Let him be Justin Fields.”

I agree with Cowher’s eventual end-point analysis. I just don’t think it has to be all that complicated to get there.

I simply think that you start Wilson because — even at this advanced stage of his career — he is a better thrower of the football and is a more savvy quarterback who has better command of the huddle and the pocket.

If we see that his skills have eroded too much, and that Fields is a better option, then call on the youngster from Chicago early in the season.

But, Wilson was signed to be the starter. He’s had to miss a lot of camp with a bad calf and has had just five preseason series with rotten pass protection in front of him.

To me — and apparently to Cowher — that’s too short of sample size with too little evidence to warrant a quarterback change before we even get to the end of preseason competition.

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Not alone

Cowher isn’t the only Super Bowl-winning coach to focus the spotlight on other areas besides QB when it comes to the offensive struggles of the Steelers.

Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick was also on McAfee’s show Monday. He put a lot of the onus for Pittsburgh’s poor play in the preseason on the offensive line.

“I think they have bigger problems than the quarterback position. That’s my opinion,” Belichick said. “I think that the defense is a pretty solid unit. The offensive line had a hard time being consistent. They lost the tackle (Troy Fautanu). Now they’ve got (Broderick) Jones over there playing right tackle. Dan (Moore Jr.) is playing left tackle. Inside they have a rookie center, (Zach) Frazier. He’s got a way to go. The guards, they’ve had some issues too, in the first two preseason games.”

Exactly. I also echo Belichick’s second point, which is that if Arthur Smith is going to be the offensive coordinator, then the Steelers have to run the ball effectively.

“Arthur (Smith) is a great fit for that offense — for what Coach (Mike) Tomlin wants. They need to get the running game going. They have good backs. They need to get those backs started. Russell’s good out of the pocket. He’ll be able to hit those play action and passes,” Belichick continued.

So far, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren have only accounted for 11 carries and 38 yards in the two preseason games.

Pieces coming together

Why is Brandon Aiyuk still negotiating with the San Francisco 49ers? In part, because the Steelers contractual offer wasn’t so large that it blew Aiyuk out of the water.

That’s according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

“The Steelers’ price point was less than $28 million, which put Pittsburgh right in the neighborhood the Niners were inhabiting — with Mike Tomlin’s presence there the drawing card,” Breer said in this week’s “Monday Morning Quarterback” post. “That, in turn, pushed Aiyuk back to the table with the Niners.”

The report isn’t exactly in line with the one from Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network last week. He suggested the stumbling block for keeping Aiyuk in San Francisco was more about guaranteed money in the fourth year of the contract offer from San Fran than it was about the gap in annual dollars per year between his current club and the Steelers.

“As it stands, the situation is still unstable,” Breer continued. “If the Niners could’ve gotten a player via a deal with the Steelers (Pittsburgh refused to give one up, so it’d have to have been in a corresponding trade), there’s a chance Aiyuk would be in Pittsburgh now. And although things have certainly gotten sideways between him and the Niners, no doors have closed on a return.”

Breer said that’s the way he is leaning right now.

“That, in fact, still seems like the most likely conclusion to this saga,” Breer concluded.

Or maybe Aiyuk just saw Pittsburgh’s offense try to compete in its first two preseason games and wants to stay out west as a result.

I wonder if Aiyuk will reconsider New England’s alleged $32 million offer from a few weeks ago.

August ineptitude

When it comes to the Pirates versus the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, it’ll be quite the push and pull of negative streaks.

Both teams have been struggling mightily of late, combining to go 9-24 in August. The Rangers won the series opener 4-3 on Monday night behind Corey Seager’s two homers.

449 feet off the bat of Corey Seager ???? pic.twitter.com/WyfT3SArhJ

— MLB (@MLB) August 20, 2024

Corey Seager homers AGAIN ???? pic.twitter.com/DNvvuzbYXY

— MLB (@MLB) August 20, 2024

The Rangers are now poised to win their first series after losing seven in a row if they get a victory on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the Pirates have now lost eight road games in a row. So, if they win, they’ll snap that streak.

In the words of Eddie Vedder, “Something’s got to give.” 

Mitch Keller pitches for the Pirates on Tuesday. His last two starts have been a disaster, yielding a combined 15 earned runs and losing both decisions. The Rangers counter with Cody Bradford. The 6-foot-4 lefty is 4-0 with an ERA of 3.50.

By the way, the Pirates’ one-run loss Monday was the club’s 25th of the season. That’s tied with the Chicago White Sox for the second-most in Major League Baseball behind the Chicago Cubs (26).