The Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 season is going to reveal a lot about the future of the franchise. With Ben Roethlisberger officially retired, the Steelers are looking to find their quarterback of the future. With Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, and Mason Rudolph on board, the Steelers had a pretty decent competition at the position throughout training camp.

For now, Trubisky has won the job, and will look to lead a Steelers offense with a lot of weapons to success this upcoming season. But it's clear he will be on a short leash with Pickett and Rudolph sitting behind him.

Trubisky has struggled in a starting capacity early on in his career, and there's a decent chance he continues to struggle in Pittsburgh. The Steelers committed to Trubisky this offseason, but they could swing a deal on the trade market to pick up an ostracized quarterback out on the west coast. Let's take a look at the unrealistic trade the Steelers need to pull off as the 2022 season nears.

The unrealistic trade the Pittsburgh Steelers need to make

Acquire Jimmy Garoppolo from the San Francisco 49ers

This trade was unrealistic all offseason long, and it's even more unrealistic now given that Jimmy Garoppolo restructured his deal last week to allow the San Francisco 49ers to hold onto him for the upcoming season. But crazier things have happened in the NFL before, and it wouldn't be completely unreasonable to suggest that the Steelers could swing a trade for Garoppolo at some point this season.

For now, Garoppolo is set to backup the third overall pick of the 2021 draft in Trey Lance. Lance filled in for Garoppolo a couple of times last season, and was inconsistent at best during his time on the field. Despite that, head coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear he wants to hand things over to Lance rather than Garoppolo this season.

This is despite the fact that Garoppolo has led the 49ers to two of the last three NFC Championship Games. When Garoppolo has been on the field, the 49ers have been one of the best teams in the NFL. The problem is that he seemingly always struggles with injuries, and the 49ers are hoping they can receive some more consistency from Lance moving forward.

Garoppolo is probably the best backup quarterback in the NFL, and it's clear the 49ers were looking to move him this offseason. Restructuring his deal settles his situation for now, but it's clear that it will still need to be addressed down the line. Garoppolo could hit free agency next offseason, and if he does, chances are a quarterback needy team will snatch him up to be their starter.

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The Steelers could become a realistic landing spot this season, especially if Trubisky struggles. Trubisky doesn't have a proven track record of success like Garoppolo does, and if he can't figure things out, Garoppolo could become a legitimate trade target for Pittsburgh.

The most complicated piece of a potential deal here is obviously Pickett. The Steelers clearly believe that he can be their quarterback of the future given the fact they used their first round draft pick on him in the 2022 NFL Draft, and if Trubisky struggles, it makes sense to turn things over to Pickett to see what he's got.

In that regard, trading for Garoppolo wouldn't make a lot of sense. Garoppolo is still just 30 years old, meaning that if he can stay healthy, he would probably block Pickett's road to a starting job for the next few seasons. Of course, this assumes that they extend Garoppolo once they trade for him, because again, his contract is up after this season.

It probably would have made more sense for the Steelers to make a move for Garoppolo this offseason, but it's not completely out of the picture for them to make a move for him at the trade deadline. If Pittsburgh is hanging around in the AFC wild card playoff picture (they probably won't be going toe-to-toe with the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens) they could swing a deal for Garoppolo in hopes it pushes them firmly into the playoff picture.

It's a complicated decision, but given all the question marks on Pittsburgh's roster at quarterback, it may make sense to trade for Garoppolo. It's highly unlikely given the moves the Steelers made at quarterback this offseason, but anytime you have a chance to land a top tier quarterback, you make that move.

Jimmy Garoppolo is an inconsistent option, yes, but he is an upgrade over what the Steelers currently have, and that makes him a potential trade target for them, no matter how unrealistic it may seem.