Washington fans won’t believe Mike Tomlin’s latest comments on Dwayne Haskins

Update: The Steelers are planning to place a restricted free agent tender on Dwayne Haskins this offseason.

For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Pittsburgh Steelers are in the market for a quarterback. Conversely, the Washington Football Team has been searching for stability at the position for the same amount of time.

While Ben Roethlisberger has yet to announce his retirement, he’s all but confirmed that 2021 was his last season. He had one final send-off at Heinz Field in Week 17 before the Steelers were trounced in the playoffs by Kansas City.

Now, head coach Mike Tomlin and a GM to be named later amid reports that Kevin Colbert will step down, will begin the process of finding a new QB. Until Colbert’s successor is appointed, it seems like Tomlin will run point.

There’s no way to know Tomlin’s intentions, but he no doubt unsettled the Steelers’ passionate fan base when he told reporters that former Washington QB Dwayne Haskins will compete for the starting job in 2022.

Could former Washington Football Team QB Dwayne Haskins be the Steelers’ starter in 2022?

"“They’re guys that started,” Tomlin said of Haskins and (Mason) Rudolph this week. “I wouldn’t characterize them as everyday starters … And so they’ll be given an opportunity to establish themselves, and there’s going to be competition.”"

For anybody claiming that Tomlin is just posturing, there are actually reports that support his comments. Per NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, Haskins has “caught the eye” of the Super Bowl-winning head coach.

In addition, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s own Ray Fittipaldo recently reported that Haskins was told in exit meetings that he’ll get the chance compete with longtime backup Mason Rudolph throughout the offseason.

A former first-round pick of Washington back in 2018, Haskins landed in Pittsburgh for the minimum last offseason. As a restricted free agent this time around, these comments make it seem like he’ll return at a similar price.

If there’s any coach in the league capable of setting Haskins straight, it’s probably Tomlin, right? After all, he coached Antonio Brown for nine years and you rarely heard a peep of the diva receiver being a distraction. You could even throw Le’Veon Bell into that conversation, though he isn’t nearly as self-obsessed as Brown.

But let’s be honest. We’re grasping at straws here. In 13 starts for Washington, Haskins amassed a 3-10 record while completing 60.1% of his passes for 175.3 yards per game and 12 touchdowns to 14 interceptions.

That’s to say nothing of Haskins’ off-field issues. The worst of the bunch came when he was fined $40,000 and stripped of his captainship for violating COVID protocols after a loss to the Seahawks in Dec. 2020. Per ESPN, Haskins hired strippers for a party in a hotel suite and was partying without a mask.

He’s everything you don’t want in a quarterback, and Ron Rivera seemingly couldn’t ship him out of town soon enough. Given that Rivera is a players’ coach and loves a good reclamation project, that speaks volumes about Haskins’ character.

Perhaps the former Ohio State star has matured since he left Landover, but not even Tomlin can believe he’ll be the Steelers’ starter in 2022. Rudolph has the inside track given his familiarity with the system and there’s a high probability that Pittsburgh either drafts a QB in the first round or adds an established veteran.

Bottom line? If Haskins is operating as the Steelers’ QB1 five months down the road, the city of Pittsburgh might just implode.