How will draft affect Steelers?

Ben Roethlisberger will likely become one of the team's highest-paid players.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Tommy Maddox figured the Pittsburgh Steelers would get an offensive tackle to protect him during the NFL draft. What surprised him was they also got a quarterback to push him -- possibly, right out of his job.
That's why, after one of their most meaningful drafts in years, the Steelers are about to find out if an uncomfortable and potentially disruptive quarterback situation can work, even for the short term.
Can they win when one of their highest-paid players, as first-rounder Ben Roethlisberger is certain to be after agent Leigh Steinberg negotiates a signing bonus of $9 million or so, may not be ready until 2005?
Scenario
And can they get back to the playoffs with an apparent lame-duck quarterback, Maddox, who was unhappy with his salary even before they drafted Roethlisberger?
"I think the bottom line is we're not looking at this as being a transition; we want to win football games," coach Bill Cowher said Sunday. "Whoever can give us the best opportunity to win football games, we're going to make that decision accordingly."
Even if their starter turns out to be the third-highest-paid quarterback on the team?
"How are Tommy and [backup] Charlie [Batch] going to handle this whole situation? We've got to sit down and talk with those guys about that," Cowher said.
Cowher also doesn't rule out Roethlisberger starting this season, even though he's yet to begin to learn their offense.
"Kyle Boller came in and started from day one in Baltimore. Cincinnati is going to have a quarterback [Carson Palmer] that's never started an NFL regular season game. Donovan McNabb started about the ninth game his rookie year," Cowher said. "But I'm certainly not going to jeopardize our football team for the sake of trying just to get someone experience. If that individual is the best player, gives us the best chance of winning, certainly I think you owe it to your football team to play that player."
Maddox has long wanted to renegotiate his $750,000 salary. But with the Steelers only about $325,000 below the salary cap, and an entire draft class still to pay, it seems highly unlikely they can substantially rework Maddox's contract.
One alternative might be for the Steelers to boost Maddox's incentives, currently in the $400,000-a-year range, without raising his base salary. That would allow Maddox to make more money as long as he remains their starter; the Steelers would be protected if he isn't.
Despite the unpleasant surprise Maddox got, the Steelers' draft went almost as forecast.
They signaled for weeks that they wanted a quarterback, a cornerback and a right tackle, and got all three. They drafted Tusculum cornerback Ricardo Colclough on the second round and 350-pound tackle Max Starks of Florida on the third.
"You need a cab to get around this guy," offensive line coach Russ Grimm said of Starks.
The Steelers didn't have a fourth-round choice after dealing it to Indianapolis to move up and take Colclough, so they waited several hours to make their first pick Sunday: fifth round linebacker Nathaniel Adibi of Virginia Tech.
Other selections
They later added an Arkansas tackle -- but it was Bo Lacy, not Shawn Andrews -- Penn State tight end Matt Kranchick and Stanford center-long snapper Drew Caylor on the sixth round. Andrews, the Eagles' first-round pick, was considered a possible Steelers first-rounder if the three top quarterbacks were gone when they drafted.
If any of their Sunday picks help them, including seventh-round defensive lineman Eric Taylor of Memphis, the Steelers will consider it a bonus.
They have drafted only one starter on the second day of the draft since 1997, defensive end Aaron Smith (fourth round) in 1999. However, outside linebacker Clark Haggans (fifth round, 2000) is expected to replace Jason Gildon as a starter this season.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.