First Call: Art Rooney II on the future of Acrisure Stadium, Mason Rudolph; Bill Cowher's status at CBS uncertain

Friday’s “First Call” has comments from Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II on the status of the quarterback position and Acrisure Stadium.

Bill Cowher’s future with CBS is being brought into question. Marc-Andre Fleury is being honored in Minnesota as the Penguins stop in to play.

And we look at a pivotal weekend for both the men’s and women’s hockey teams at Robert Morris.

Put a bow on it

Steelers President Art Rooney II concluded his annual series of sit-down interviews with local Pittsburgh TV stations. His final stop was with WPXI, where he confirmed with Jenna Harner that the franchise has had some talks with quarterback Mason Rudolph about staying in Pittsburgh.

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

Rudolph is a free agent. So don’t be surprised if he winds up elsewhere, even if the Steelers do make an effort to keep him.

Given that Rooney has already tamped down talk of any significant offseason acquisition of quarterbacks, it’ll be interesting to see if any of those other three faces besides Kenny Pickett’s are actually recognizable.

News about the North Shore?

Harner also asked about the long-term viability of Acrisure Stadium.

“I think it’s a great stadium, and it served us well,” Rooney said. “We certainly think it has some more shelf life with improvements. And so we are in the process of trying to identify what improvements, what renovations, are we going to need to stay there for the long term.”

Who ends up paying for those improvements and how much they may cost is the bigger-picture conversation. The timeline for them was discussed with Harner as well.

“We try to make some improvements every year and bring on new fan amenities,” Rooney said. “There are some things that we’re working on now that we’ll be announcing in the near future in terms of improvements to the stadium this year. And then we’re working with a team of consultants on, let’s say, the stadium of the future and what Acrisure Stadium can be five, 10, 20 years from now. So, a lot of work to be done there. But we’re hard at work at it.”

Whether that “stadium of the future” is a gussied-up version of Acrisure Stadium (which opened in 2001) or a completely new building, I really don’t care. I just don’t want it down south on I-79 somewhere or up north near Cranberry as some have speculated. Keep it on the North Shore where it should be.

Meanwhile, regarding the South Side practice facility, Rooney II had some quotes on that front too.

“We still have some years left on our lease here at this facility,” he said. “But it’s time to start to look at improvements here as well. And that’s another project we’ll be working on in the near future.”

Is one of those improvements another access or exit point that doesn’t involve the Hot Metal Bridge? If so, I can’t wait.

More sports

• Steelers' Cam Heyward named Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year; T.J. Watt edged in DPOY voting
• Steelers add new WR, QB coaches to offensive staff
• What does Pitt need to do to earn an NCAA Tournament berth?

Cowher’s contract

What’s Bill Cowher’s status with CBS’ NFL coverage? That topic was broached in The Athletic.

Andrew Marchand reports that “NFL Today” will have James Brown back as the point man for the show. He also says the network views Nate Burleson (whose contract is about to expire) and J.J. Watt as the presumed future of the show.

However, Cowher, Phil Simms and Boomer Esiason appear to be in a state of flux.

“Maybe they all come back, but it would be unsurprising if at least one of the trio is not retained,” Marchand said. “CBS could opt for a smaller set or could try to find the right newcomer. Bill Belichick is likely the biggest name on the TV market, but CBS didn’t have any serious talks with him about joining for the Super Bowl, according to a source briefed on the matter. Belichick is likely going to want to return to the sidelines; it would be hard to jettison the respected Cowher, 66, for a potential rental like Belichick.”

Marchand claims that during NFL Media Day, CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus and president David Berson declined to comment on the future of the show.

Fun for Fleury

After posting a 3-0 shutout to beat the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, the Penguins (23-17-7) are in Minnesota on Friday night.

It’s fitting that they are the opponent, as the Wild (22-23-5) plan to honor goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

The franchise is staging a pregame ceremony to commemorate Fleury’s accomplishments of reaching 1,000 games and winning 552 decisions. That 552nd victory occurred back on Jan. 15 vs. the New York Islanders. It was a 21-save shutout that moved him past Patrick Roy into sole possession of second place on the goalie-all-time wins list.

Via the Star-Tribune, “Fleury is scheduled to make his first start since exiting the NHL’s concussion protocol after getting hit behind the net by Florida’s Will Lockwood on Jan. 19.”

During his 13 years in a Penguins uniform, Fleury played in 691 of those games and collected 375 of those wins. He was also part of three Stanley Cup championship clubs.

Back on the road again

Since we are talking hockey, the Robert Morris men’s hockey team is in West Point for two games this weekend. The Colonials face Army on Friday and Saturday.

Derek Schooley’s club has found some decent footing of late. They have won three of their last four and seven of their last 14.

Not bad for a team in its first year back from a two-year absence when the program was shut down by the school’s former administration.

After sweeping Mercyhurst last week, RMU now has 21 points in Atlantic hockey play. They have climbed out of last place in front of both Mercyhurst and Army with three regular-season weekends left to play.

Following the trip to play the Black Knights, the Colonials wrap up the year with a home series against Canisius and a road trip to Colorado to face Air Force.

As for the women, Penn State is in town to battle the Colonials on Neville Island for two games this weekend. Faceoff of Game 1 on Friday is at 7 p.m. The second game Saturday starts at 5 p.m. It’ll be preceded by Senior Day activities for the Colonials.

The Nittany Lions lead CHA with 26 points. RMU is third with 16.