Welcome to Take Madness, The Pitt News’ version of March Madness but with hot sports takes. For the fourth and final day of Take Madness’ opening round, we have the DMV region. This region is comprised of four writers from the DMV, which is the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
You, the readers, can vote on The Pitt News Sports Desk’s Instagram and X accounts.
The Steelers should relocate // No. 1 Ari Meyer, Staff Writer
The Pittsburgh Steelers are currently stuck in a major phase of mediocrity. Their ability to both finish with a winning record and also have no real shot at winning the Super Bowl is a bit impressive.
That said, many teams wish they could have the consistent moderate amount of success that the Steelers have had. A team like the Titans would yearn to make the playoffs consistently at the point they are at currently.
Steelers fans are sick of not winning playoff games despite regular season successes.
To fix this issue, the Steelers should relocate to an area where their fans are more welcoming and supportive.
One suggestion is St. Louis, a city still reeling from the loss of the Rams 10 seasons ago. Maybe a change in environment could even turn the team’s fortunes more positive. It would certainly help to dissuade the “beef” that Steelers fans have with Pitt due to the agreements to share practice facilities and Acrisure Stadium.
The Steelers should start young at quarterback in the draft // No. 2 James Carter, Staff Writer
While it seems likely that the Steelers will sign a veteran quarterback in free agency, I believe that this is unwise. The AFC, and especially the AFC North, is full of young talents at quarterback, and the Steelers need to keep pace with the rest of the conference.
Therefore, the Steelers should swing for a quarterback prospect in this year’s draft, as there are some interesting options to work with. While the big names of Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are likely out of reach, Jaxson Dart from Ole Miss or Will Howard from Ohio State are possible options in the mid-first round or the second round.
Ideally, the Steelers should sit this young quarterback for a year or two behind whomever they sign, or even Mason Rudolph, who proved an adequate starter two seasons ago with the right talent around him.
Regardless, the current quarterback situation in the Steel City is untenable. Steelers fans may feel squeamish about drafting another franchise guy after the Kenny Pickett situation, but the roster is too talented to pass over a young quarterback. The Steelers need someone new to get the franchise going again.
The Bengals made a mistake signing both Chase and Higgins // No. 3 Thomas Simione, Staff Writer
After weeks of dramatic negotiations, the Bengals announced they finalized contract extensions for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, paying out over $275 million to the receiver duo over the next four years.
Both Chase and Higgins are incredible, but it’s a big risk to tie so much money up in just two players. With Joe Burrow also getting extended, the Bengals will have nearly half of their cap space tied up in three players on offense.
Burrow, Chase and Higgins were held out of the playoffs last season because of a terrible defense. With the exorbitant salaries of the trio, it’s harder than ever for the Bengals to sign impactful defensive players.
Trey Hendrickson, who has 35 sacks in the last two years, is also due for a new contract, but instead of getting paid, he will likely get sent out of Cincinnati. If Hendrickson gets traded or leaves in free agency, this already bad Bengals defense will become even worse, only limiting the Bengals even further.
Cooper Flagg staying at Duke would only prove detrimental to his career // No. 4 Julien Holbrook, Staff Writer
With March Madness on the horizon, one of college basketball’s biggest stars has a career-defining decision to make. Cooper Flagg, the 18-year-old first-year forward for Duke, has lit it up this season for the Blue Devils.
Flagg is the first ACC player in the last 25 years to reach 500 points, 100 rebounds and 30 assists in a single season and is also valued to have an NIL deal of approximately $4.8 million.
Flagg dropped a season-high 42 points against Notre Dame earlier in the season, showing just how much potential he must have to become an elite NBA player. But recently he was quoted in an interview with the Athletic stating, “S—, I want to come back next year.”
By staying in college, his second contract would get delayed, which could see him miss the opportunity to make $400 million at least over 4 years, amounting to $80 million a year. This, coupled with lucrative brand deals of the NBA, dwarfs the amount he would make staying at Duke and displays why he should make the leap to the NBA and not stay in college.