Channel 11′s Jenna Harner sits down with Steelers President Art Rooney II

PITTSBURGH — Channel 11′s Jenna Harner sat down with Steelers President Art Rooney II late Wednesday afternoon.

Rooney offered new information about the future of Acrisure Stadium, the Steelers playing internationally and the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.

Rooney also talked about the current quarterback situation and the recent lack of playoff success.

He said the Steelers should find out by late spring if Pittsburgh is hosting the 2026 NFL Draft.

Rooney said he feels optimistic about it.

He also touched on the potential changes to Acrisure Stadium ahead of this season.

Just two days ago, the NFL announced the Eagles are hosting the first game ever in Brazil.

The Steelers are one of the teams that could play in that matchup. While Rooney couldn’t say if that’ll happen, the Steelers do currently have international marketing rights in Ireland and Mexico.

Rooney said that with the way the league is growing internationally, hosting a home game soon in one of those countries is a very real possibility.

Channel 11 asked the big questions about what to expect in the quarterback room.

RAW: Channel 11's Jenna Harner sits down with Steelers president Art Rooney II

Rooney said the key is having Kenny Pickett take that next step.

“We need to make sure we get the quality play out of the quarterback position that I think we saw, you know, when Mason did what he did at the end of the year. I think we saw what kind of team we can be,” Rooney said.

We asked what specifically gives Rooney confidence in Pickett.

“One of the things we saw in his career at Pitt was he got better every year, and he worked hard every year. And we still see that and his makeup now and so, you know, that gives a calm confidence in going forward here,” Rooney said.

Mike Tomlin said there will be competition for Pickett as the starter. We asked about the avenues the Steelers have explored to create the competition.

“Number one, obviously, we like what we saw for Mason in the last few games of the year,” Rooney said. “And so bringing Mason back would be great. And we’ve had some conversations and we’ll, we’ll see where that goes. But, you know, we’ll, we’ll have some more faces in that room and go to camp with four quarterbacks as we always do.”

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