Joe Rutter stories, Page 4

INDIANAPOLIS — Because they don’t have any of their quarterbacks from the 2024 season under contract, the Pittsburgh Steelers have used the offseason to heavily scout the prospects. The process began at the Shrine and Senior Bowl all-star events and continued this week at the NFL Combine. General manager Omar...

INDIANAPOLIS — Gavin Bartholomew doesn’t have the best stats among tight ends at the NFL Combine. He doesn’t have the top pedigree, either, among the 21 prospects at his position invited to attend the annual event. But the four-year starter from Pitt excels in one easy-to-detect area. Bartholomew arguably has...

INDIANAPOLIS — Penn State star defensive end Abdul Carter already wasn’t planning to work out at the NFL Combine because of a shoulder injury he suffered in the college football playoffs. A foot injury revealed Wednesday night apparently won’t derail his plans to attend his school’s pro day. Nor, according...

INDIANAPOLIS — Bigger is better as far as Kenneth Grant is concerned. One of the largest specimens at the NFL Combine, the junior defensive tackle from Michigan stands 6-foot-3 and tips the scales at 342 pounds. He has the size to fit squarely in the middle of an NFL team’s...

INDIANAPOLIS — The good news for the Pittsburgh Steelers is that unlike the previous year, they received zero F grades in the NFL Players’ Association’s third annual team report card that was released Wednesday. The bad news? For the second year in a row, they continued to rank No. 28...

INDIANAPOLIS — It won’t happen until after the quarterback position is resolved. It might not transpire until late in training camp or a few days before the start of the regular season — just like it did in 2021. Make no mistake, though, an offseason priority for the Pittsburgh Steelers...

INDIANAPOLIS — Two weeks before the start of NFL free agency’s legal tampering period, the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have any of their veteran quarterbacks from the 2024 season under contract. General manager Omar Khan is trying to change that before March 10 when other teams are permitted to talk deals...

With the Super Bowl, college playoffs and all-star showcases in the rearview mirror, the NFL ramps up its focus this week for the upcoming season. The annual Scouting Combine will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with on-field workouts running from Thursday through Sunday. The NFL has invited...

The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers went hunting for a quarterback in the NFL Draft, they had the misfortune of doing so in one of the leanest classes in recent memory. When Kenny Pickett was taken with the No. 20 overall pick in 2022, he was the first quarterback to...

In his first two mockups, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah had the Pittsburgh Steelers selecting an offensive playmaker with the No. 21 overall pick. It was understandable considering the Steelers never exceeded 17 points during the five-game losing streak that ended their season. It also wasn’t surprising considering the...

Scott Sauerbeck, a late-blooming left-handed reliever who spent five of his major-league seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, died Wednesday in Bradenton, Fla. Sauerbeck was 53. Former Pirates teammate Dave Williams wrote on Facebook that Sauerbeck died of a heart attack, and the Pirates confirmed Sauerbeck’s death in a social media...

The Pittsburgh Steelers made official Wednesday the hiring of former Pitt player Scott McCurley as the team’s inside linebackers coach. McCurley replaces Aaron Curry, who left the Steelers to accept a position with the New York Jets. A New Castle native, McCurley, 44, spent the past five seasons with the...

The Super Bowl capped the first year of the NFL’s dynamic kickoff rule. Based on that final-game sample size, the concept hardly lived up to its name but still was viewed as a success. Then again, the bar was set at ground level in the previous Super Bowl, and the...

The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a continued presence at the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer. Former head athletic trainer John Norwig will be honored as a member of the “Awards of Excellence” fourth class, the Hall of Fame announced Friday. He joins Ed Block and Pepper Burruss, bringing...

Led by presumptive first-round picks Adbul Carter and Tyler Warren, Penn State had five players receive invitations to the annual NFL Scouting Combine, which will be held later this month in Indianapolis. Carter, a 6-foot-3, 252-pound defensive end, is viewed as one of the top players in the entire draft...

The Kansas City Chiefs will have an unexpected fan Sunday when they attempt to win a record third consecutive Super Bowl. “Mean” Joe Greene, considered the greatest player in Pittsburgh Steelers history and anchor of their four Super Bowl titles in six seasons during the 1970s, says he’s rooting for...

The Super Bowl matchup next weekend between Kansas City and Philadelphia presents a clash of offensive styles that is as contrasting as the quarterbacks who run them. The Chiefs rely on the right arm of Patrick Mahomes, a two-time MVP who is gunning for a record third consecutive championship and...

The first change to the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff was revealed Friday when linebackers coach Aaron Curry left the organization to join the New York Jets. NFL Network was first to report the switch in teams for Curry. Curry spent two seasons with the Steelers and six as an assistant...

This is the 11th and final part in a series examining the Pittsburgh Steelers roster, position by position, heading into the offseason. Today: Specialists If you could put a wager on which Pittsburgh Steelers position group would return intact for training camp, the safest bet would be on the specialists....

This is the 10th part of a series examining the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster, position by position, heading into the offseason. Today: Cornerbacks When the Pittsburgh Steelers acquired cornerback Donte Jackson from Carolina in March, they swapped one player entering the final year of his contract for another. The Steelers paid...

This is the ninth in a series examining the Pittsburgh Steelers’ roster, position by position, heading into the offseason. Today: Safeties When Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II discussed the team’s roster during his annual season wrapup this week, he talked about the need to get stronger on the defensive...

The Pittsburgh Steelers benefited from another player being unavailable to play in the Pro Bowl games when quarterback Russell Wilson was named as a replacement for Buffalo’s Josh Allen. Earlier in the day, guard Isaac Seumalo was selected to replace Trey Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs, who is not...

Calling it the “biggest piece of the puzzle that we have to address,” Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II said determining which quarterback to pursue before the start of free agency will dominate discussions this offseason. Russell Wilson started the final 11 games of the regular season and the wild-card...

Art Rooney II doesn’t need to listen to talk radio or read newspaper columns to understand the frustration surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers after their latest collapse. All the team’s owner has to do is turn on his computer and check his email. “My inbox has been pretty full lately,” Rooney...