Did Steelers fans really learn anything from recent media sessions?

With the NFL spring league meeting going on this week, Steelers fans were able to hear from head coach Mike Tomlin, general manager Omar Khan, and team president and owner Art Rooney II. With it being such a long time since fans have heard from these important figures in the Steelers organization, preparing to get some groundbreaking Steelers news is always the hope. But like anything when it comes to the Steelers and most pro sports organizations, information isn’t going to be flowing freely that doesn’t offer a competitive advantage.

Since we fans are ready to soak up anything we can, it’s not that the questions weren’t asked or answers given that didn’t set off a news frenzy. But most of these headlines I would place in the category of “water is wet” information. For those unfamiliar with the saying, it’s the sarcastic reply whenever a news story is broken that really doesn’t give any information that wasn’t already known so the follow up statement is, “in other news… water is wet.”

There was a lot of information that really wasn’t of the groundbreaking variety when we heard from first from Mike Tomlin, then Omar Khan, followed by Art Rooney II. Shockingly, Coach Tomlin didn’t give any sort of deadline about when there would be a resolution to signing quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Honestly, the bigger news was that Tomlin would even mention the player at all since he’s not on the team. But we did get plenty of stock answers of how the Steelers are evaluating the position and their options to add someone either in free agency or the draft.

Shocker.

There was more information about playing down any differences versus similarities of George Pickens and DK Metcalf. There was some potential quality news about players coming off of injury such as punter Cam Johnston and linebacker Cole Holcomb. Saying they’re expected to be ready for training camp was a good sign, but that’s still almost four months away and expectations can change.

There was some information that was a little bit more telling from the Steelers general manager… or was it? Omar Khan said the Steelers expect to add two more quarterbacks to get to four before training camp. But was that different than what was already expected? He also said that the Steelers would like to acquire a second round pick in the draft since they used theirs to trade for DK Metcalf. Was this really a surprise? It was also said that Khan views Jaylen Warren as a capable starting running back. Would you expect him to say anything else?

One thing that Omar Khan did say that wasn’t news, but was actually surprising that he acknowledged it, was about compensatory draft picks for 2026. It’s been obvious to anyone paying attention as to what the Steelers have done this offseason in that they are looking to cash in and get some comp picks next year based on players who have left. Khan did acknowledge that this has influenced some of the Steelers decisions during the offseason. It’s not surprising at all that the Steelers were doing this as it was easy to see, but actually hearing the general manager say it was at least interesting.

Honestly, probably the most surprising bit of information that came out of any of the talks came from Art Rooney. The fact that the team president and owner would say that what he’s hearing is the signs are pointing in the direction of Aaron Rodgers signing with the Steelers is more information than I expected. I also like to hear that Rooney said that they aren’t going to wait forever for a decision, something that neither Tomlin or Khan were at liberty to say. Once again, it’s not that this was any new information that fans didn’t already assume, but hearing it from Mr. Rooney himself did carry some weight.

I don’t know if we really got any new information at all from this time with the media. We did hear how the Steelers voted on a few rule changes, but I’m sure that news was going to come out eventually. Instead of having to wait for an insider to dig it up later, we now know the Steelers voted to ban the tush push and to not change the playoff formatting thanks to Art Rooney II.

While saying all of this about not really getting any information that we didn’t already know as Steelers fans from these interviews, I have to admit that I still soaked up every bit of information from it that I could. I’m craving Steelers information much like many in Steelers’ Nation. So even if it is saying a whole lot of nothing, it’s still better than nothing being said at all.