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Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward (97) warms up before an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, in Miami Gardens, Fla.
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Paul Zeise's mailbag: Should Steelers consider trading Cam Heyward?

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Paul Zeise's mailbag: Should Steelers consider trading Cam Heyward?

Welcome to Paul Zeise’s weekly mailbag, where the Post-Gazette columnist and 93.7 The Fan radio host answers your questions about sports, life and everything in between. You can also chat about all sports on Thursdays with Paul. If you want to ask a question, tweet him @PaulZeise or email him at pzeise@post-gazette.com.

Let’s get started:

Andy: Do you think the Steelers should consider trading Cam Heyward? He only has two years left on his deal and the Steelers probably could get a big haul for him. That would make as much or more sense as trading Chase Claypool. I guess it all depends on how far away from being a contender the Steelers are, right?

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Zeise: You are correct. All of it depends on whether or not you think the Steelers will be contenders within the next few years. If you believe they are close, then you don’t trade Claypool or Heyward. If you think that they are still a few years away, you trade them and build with the picks you get in return. I don’t know that I would trade Heyward, anyway. I think he is way too valuable to the defense, he is a team leader and I don’t know that you can easily replace him. Claypool may be a tradable commodity, but what realistically will you get back? I just don’t think you will get back the value for either player.

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Eric: Why hasn’t Mason Rudolph gotten a real chance? Both the other two have played and shown they aren’t capable of getting the job done, why not give Rudolph one last look?

Zeise: Good question. I would start him in Philadelphia. Why not? What do you have to lose? If he plays well, you could trade him the next day. If he doesn’t play well, you are losing a game you probably would lose no matter who starts. Pickett is the future of the team, I get it, but if you are truly playing to try and get to the playoffs this year, it would make sense to try and shake it up and give one of the veterans a chance to provide a “spark.”

Bernard: Why as a fan should I care about the concussion risk to players when Tua is leading with his head into contact?

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Zeise: I mean, I guess you don’t need to is the easy answer. I do get your point — we are told how much the concussion and head injury issue is at the forefront of the discussion by the NFL and all of its partners. We are constantly bombarded by how much of an issue it is, as if we should deeply be concerned about it. Then we watch the games and a guy like Tua, who suffered two such injuries in about five days, is out there diving head first into tacklers. So if Tua doesn’t care about his health, why should we? I would answer simply that if you have any amount of compassion, you should worry about any young, healthy person who is perhaps in danger of injuring himself or herself for the long term — and that is even if it is as a result of risky choices and/or behavior. I don’t want to see a player get paralyzed, die or suffer permanent brain damage as a result of a hit to the head, and I don’t think you do, either. 

Jerry: If Pitt continues to lose to bad teams, is there a real argument to be heard that Pat Narduzzi should be fired or on the hot seat? How can you still support this guy?

Zeise: There isn’t one. He just won 11 games and the ACC last year. He has won the Coastal division title two out of the last four years. They aren’t playing well right now, but give me a break with this. If he has a down year this year and next year, then maybe the hot seat discussion comes up again.

Eileen: Is Kedon Slovis really better than the other quarterbacks on the roster? I find that very hard to believe. Slovis is no Kenny Pickett, that’s for sure.

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Zeise: I think he probably is in terms of his talent. But in terms of once the game begins and there are people flying around the field, I can’t imagine he is. He freezes up a lot, zeros in on his primary receiver and makes some really bad decisions. 

Jim: Hey Paul, wow some program Pat Narduzzi has built here!! Are you sticking with your thoughts that he is the right man for the job moving forward? They just lost to Georgia Tech and Louisville, how good can they be?

Zeise: Again, they aren’t playing well right now, but he has a lot of good young players in the program. And I would argue that almost all of their issues right now are because the quarterback has not played well.

John: The defense is very good but is it the QB, WRs, new offensive system…what gives? I know sports is a prove it business, but do you buy the disrespect PITT basketball is getting in the ACC preseason polls?

Zeise: You said it all right there: quarterback play. If Slovis doesn’t figure this out, the team has no chance of winning games. It really is the difference between this year and last year. Last year, they had a Heisman contender playing quarterback; this year, they have a player who is trying to figure it out. If their quarterback play was better, they could be undefeated right now. As for Pitt hoops, I agree that they should be better this year, but how in the world are voters supposed to look at the last few years, a mostly new roster full of transfers (again) and come to any other conclusion other than they will be bad again? Pitt will get respect when Pitt earns it, and clearly the hoops team hasn’t earned it.

Amy: Pitt started strong but has fizzled in recent weeks. What are your thoughts about this week’s matchup with North Carolina? If they lose, will they be out of the Coastal race?

Zeise: Pitt typically doesn’t play well at North Carolina, but it wouldn’t shock me if they play a better game than they did last week. Of course, it would be tough to play worse. I think it is a bad matchup for Pitt because the Panthers will need to score a decent amount to win. The Tar Heels offense is really good, so this won’t be a game Pitt will be able to win scoring only 10 or 17 points. And if Pitt loses this game, it has no chance of winning the Coastal. The Panthers will be three games behind North Carolina, and North Carolina will also have a tiebreaker. This is a must-win if the Panthers want to defend their ACC championship.

Amy: And since you didn’t use my question last week, I should get a second one :-)... You have been doing the KDKA mid-day show for the past few weeks. How do you like this type of show over the sports show on the Fan? Have you settled into this role and how has this affected your tee times??

Zeise: Well, because you are such a loyal reader and always have great questions, you are right, I owe you a second one. I will say it is different doing news talk, but it is different in a good way. I can talk about literally anything — from music to sports to news to politics — so it makes it more interesting day to day. I actually get to talk about a lot of things and that makes it fun. As for tee times, well, they went from mostly in the morning to mostly in the afternoon.

Paul Zeise: pzeise@post-gazette.com or Twitter: @paulzeise

First Published: October 26, 2022, 5:12 p.m.

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