Terry Bradshaw rips current state of Pittsburgh Steelers: 'They're past being a contender'

After a busy offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers enter Week 4 above .500. Mike Tomlin’s group is 2-1 heading into a matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, but franchise legend Terry Bradshaw still has questions.

Bradshaw ripped the state of the Steelers, telling USA Today he doesn’t believe they’re “contenders” right now. He pointed out how important it is to have talent in all three phases, as well as have the right coaching.

While he said Tomlin isn’t going anywhere, Bradshaw doesn’t see a championship-caliber team this year. He thinks Pittsburgh will be competitive, but he doesn’t see a contender with the current roster.

“They’re not ever going to fire Mike Tomlin,” Bradshaw said. “If they continue – they’ve made the playoffs 18 years. And if he wins it, he’ll go again 19 years. They don’t have the team. It takes offense, defense. Takes it all Takes coaching. … They are always competitive, but they’re past being a contender.

“They’re not a contender. They’re just not. From what I’ve seen, they’re not a contender, and they haven’t been in a while. They haven’t been a contender in five years.”

After both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields moved on via free agency, the Steelers embarked on a lengthy pursuit of Aaron Rodgers. They eventually signed him, and that came after they made a bold move to acquire DK Metcalf, giving him a lucrative contract in the process. Pittsburgh also made a splash on defense by landing Jalen Ramsey from the Miami Dolphins.

However, Terry Bradshaw pointed out the Steelers’ history with talented players. He used Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell to make his point, acknowledging the role money plays in players’ careers.

“Every time they get great players and they do really well – you’ve got Brown, Antonio Brown … all these guys are on their way to the Hall of Fame,” Bradshaw said. “They’re playing so great for Pittsburgh. ‘I want my money.’ So they don’t get their money and they’re out of there. That’s what happens. That’s why I wasn’t opposed to Dallas’ move. Four-year guy going into the fifth year, ‘I want money.’ They say, ‘Look, I’ve already such-and-such. We can wait another year.’ Then, you’re out of here.

“It’s not a bad way to do it, if you can pick up a lot of first-round draft picks and maybe there’s a quarterback you think you might need or a great lineman or something, whatever. I don’t know.”