U mad, bro?: Steelers fans in QB mode already; Penguins fans antsy about offseason moves; Pirates fans despondent

The Stanley Cup Final isn’t even over yet, but Pittsburgh Penguins fans are all worked up about what’s coming in the offseason.

As they should be.

Steelers fans are firing off opinions about the quarterback depth chart.

As they should be.

And Pirates fans are fed up.

As they should be. And as they should have been decades ago.

That’s why we give you an outlet every week to sound off in “U mad, bro?”

We start with Nate. He doesn’t exactly seem thrilled with the idea of the Penguins signing Kris Letang to a big-money, long-term deal.

Hopefully he turns the pen over before signing

— Nate (@NateyNitro) June 13, 2022

Twitter isn’t good for much. But if it is good for one thing, it’s sarcasm.

This guy, like me, isn’t happy with the idea of the Penguins “keeping the band together.”

I agree with your perspective, Tim. They've had 5 straight early playoff exits WITH much younger 58/71, are they just going to keep kicking the can for 3 or 4 more years?

— TheConfluence (@TheConfluence) June 10, 2022

Yes. Yes, they are.

Of course, Sidney Crosby will undoubtedly break his foot by kicking the can right before Game 7 of next year’s inevitable first-round playoff exit.

Then the Penguins will blame the can.

Back to hockey in a moment. Let’s mix in some Steelers quarterback talk. This person thinks too much is being made of Mason Rudolph starting minicamp in front of Kenny Pickett on the depth chart.

This is purely a biz decision. Make Mason look great so you get the best trade value. I think it’s really that simple.

— Rob Bayer (@rbayer32) June 13, 2022

I don’t think there is a “making Mason look better” component to this. No team is going to reevaluate Rudolph’s tape based on reports they read out of Steelers minicamp.

The Steelers are going to get a third-day pick for Rudolph — at best — regardless of what position on the depth chart they claim he has in minicamp.

If they trade him at all.

They know it. The rest of the league knows it.

Steve doesn’t think the Steelers’ decision to have Mitch Trubisky in the No. 1 quarterback position to start minicamp has anything to do with making Pickett prove his worth as a rookie.

“Trubisky starting the season has nothing to do with the ‘Steelers way,’ and has everything to do with him right now being the better, more experienced, proven option at starting QB. If he proves he deserves to start during the season, I could care less if Pickett ever sees a snap of NFL play … even when he’s 29 and still only started 49 games at Pitt.”

Well, I’d care, Steve. I’d care a lot.

If a team selects a guy with the No. 20 pick in the draft, and he never “sees a snap of NFL play,” then that was a wasted pick.

Back to Letang. Here’s a tweet from @HAZZYNESS.

Why give him money when they won a cup WITHOUT him and have only won 1 series WITH him in 5 years?

— Hazzyness (@Hazzyness) June 13, 2022

Because he just set a career high with 68 points (as a defenseman), that’s why.

Look, it’s not a matter of trying to minimize Letang as a player. He’s still good. It’s a matter of whether they want to pay what he is going to command on the open market or if they would be better served reallocating those dollars under the cap to multiple players.

I vote for the latter because your second point is much more valid than your first. The 2017 Cup run is irrelevant. But they have four straight first-round playoff exits and five straight series losses. Something needs to change. Maybe the team should give itself $7-$9 million in cap space to figure it out.

Well, $16.7 million if you want to count Malkin, too.

Before we go, the Pirates have lost nine of their last 10 games. Can I get one enraged Pirates fan to email?

Oh. Wait. I’m being told someone named “Mervin G.” has entered the chat.

“Yu Chang is batting (.139) as a Pirate with ‘HORRIBLE’ footwork around first base. He should be DFA’d by sunset today! He should never have been picked up off the heap of other’s releases!!!

Anyone know why the Pirate’s GM picks up nearly everyone DFA’d by other teams?

After being a Pirate fan since 1952, I really no longer care how poorly the Pirates play, but I will not accept stupidity from upper management!”

Mervin, I hate to break it to you, but, if you have been a Pirates fan since 1952, you’ve been putting up with stupidity for the better part of 70 years.