Mark Madden: Steelers smart to keep Mason Rudolph but also need to retain Mitch Trubisky

Refreshing sports notes seem a worthy method of celebrating Mason Rudolph still being a Steeler. He can’t return because he never left.

• Mason Rudolph’s re-signing with the Steelers gives him a job but also reveals that no other team considered him worthy to compete for a No. 2 spot.

• Rudolph is a wise keep. He knows the offense, etc. But the citizens dislike him because he tied lousy Detroit in his lone start of 2021, underthrowing Ray-Ray McCloud on what should have been a touchdown, and because Rudolph looked weak and scared when Myles Garrett assaulted Rudolph with his own helmet in the 2019 visit to Cleveland.

• The economically minded suggest cutting Mitch Trubisky and making Rudolph the backup, thus ditching Trubisky’s $10.6-million salary-cap hit. Bad idea. Trubisky did well as a backup after losing the No. 1 job. His performance off the bench Oct. 16 at home vs. Tampa Bay was the best quarterbacking the Steelers got all year: 9 of 12 for 144 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, a passer rating of 142.4. Don’t nickel-dime at QB, especially with Kenny Pickett being concussed twice last season.

• The Steelers’ top issue is left tackle, mostly because of their early foes. Weeks 1, 2 and 3 see them face elite edge rushers Nick Bosa (San Francisco), Garrett and Maxx Crosby (Las Vegas). Who’s a better bet to keep Pickett’s brain intact, first-round rookie Broderick Jones or third-year vet Dan Moore Jr.? Jones has the talent, but the Steelers break rookies in slow. Training camp and the preseason games will reveal.

• Or perhaps the decision has been made. GM Omar Khan recently extolled Moore’s versatility, saying he could play either tackle. Guard, too. You don’t hear starters praised for their versatility. Jones will start.

• Seven ACC schools reportedly want to break away from the conference’s TV deal for football. Pitt isn’t included. It’s a reminder that Pitt football is small potatoes. It’s also a reminder that college football is headed toward two “super conferences,” the SEC and Big Ten. Ultimately, those two leagues will each have 20-24 teams and their winners will meet for the national championship. Everybody else will pretend.

• College football is supposed to be about tradition and rivalries. That’s no longer true, except for the super-powers. They get to maintain their tradition and rivalries. Michigan and Ohio State will always play. So will Alabama and Auburn. Texas and Oklahoma. Those schools assume the tradition of college football is OK because their traditions are OK. Meanwhile, Pitt rarely plays Penn State or West Virginia and never in a meaningful game. Penn State has no rivals, but at least they’re in the Big Ten.

• Those who want Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez to be summoned from the minors should first clamor for big-money Bryan Reynolds to hit the odd home run. None since April 7, or since he signed his $106.75 million extension. Getting proper return from Reynolds will help the Pirates more than promoting a prospect who isn’t ready.

• Reynolds’ slump and Ke’Bryan Hayes’ abject lack of power should make the Pirates wait to talk new deal with pitcher Mitch Keller. Keller has started 77 major-league games, posting 23 quality starts. Seven have been this season. The Pirates control Keller for two years beyond this one. See if his excellence continues before extending. There’s no rush. Reynolds isn’t currently earning his keep. Hayes might never justify his $70 million.

• Davis and/or Rodriguez won’t save the season. Despite starting 20-8, the Pirates were never going to make the playoffs. What’s funny is that the same media who shouted that “these Bucs are for real” now say “they don’t look like a major-league team.” Try nuance and perspective. It’s a developing team that had a lucky April.

• The Penguins’ GM search continues. Here’s betting an analytics geek will be paired with an old school-style executive. One will be GM, the other director of hockey ops. Think ex-Arizona GM John Chayka with ex-Montreal GM Marc Bergevin. That’s supposed to provide a complete overview. But perhaps it creates conflict via two opposed ways of thinking. Consider Toronto, where GM Kyle Dubas’ analytical blueprint seemed occasionally compromised by contradictory acquisitions, like getting washed-up winger Wayne Simmonds to provide grit. Perhaps that move was triggered by traditionalist Brendan Shanahan, the ex-player who serves as Toronto’s president.

• Ex-Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell wanted to box ex-Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict to avenge the knee injury inflicted by Burfict on the football field. Burfict wanted to fight Bell MMA-style in the octagon. Bell said he’d only box. Burfict then proposed an odd method to “squash beef”… on the golf course, and to raise funds for charity. That is very un-Burfict. It seems like a trap. He’d probably brain Bell with a nine-iron.