Starkey & Mueller

ALL ACCESS w/ Aditi – Aditi talked about her experience at Super Bowl LX. Aditi commented on Joey Porter taking a shot at Ben Roethlisberger, and possibly adding a jab at James Harrison. Aditi talked about some things heard in the Steelers facility during her time covering the team closely. She noted, as we have before, how Ben was only once voted Team MVP. Aditi already wasn’t convinced about Ben being a first ballot Hall of Famer and stuff like this won’t necessarily help matters. Aditi doesn’t think there is another Sam Darnold in the 2026 free agent field, but said Malik Willis is her most intriguing name.

Pitchers and catchers reported to Bradenton today as the Pirates get set for the 2026 season. After some solid offseason moves, there is actual optimism around the team. Paul Skenes spoke to the media today. What are his goals for 2026? Did he have conversations with the front office about their offseason plan?

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk joined the show. Mike doesn’t think there will be a hard deadline on the Steelers waiting on Aaron Rodgers like some local media have claimed. Is there anywhere else Rodgers will go? Mike believes if Rodgers does play in 2026, this year will absolutely be it. Mike thinks Rodgers should be the Philip Rivers of 2026 and wait around for a contending team that needs a QB. Mike feels like the Steelers drafting a QB in the ’26 Draft would tell us more about Will Howard than Rodgers. Mike said it does surprise him a little bit that the Steelers wouldn’t want to know about Rodgers by the time free agency begins. He thinks old options like Kirk Cousins or Joe Flacco could get the phone call, but how far could the Steelers really go with those guys? Mike weighed in on the war of words started by Joey Porter in the direction of Ben Roethlisberger. Mike thinks things changed a little bit with Ben after he was suspended in 2010, but is not surprised to hear something like this. Will stuf

Mason Rudolph picked his side in the Joey Porter vs Ben Roethlisberger battle, and it’s not much of a surprise to know he was happy to hear Porter go on and on after #7. Their relationship was notably sour and The Fan may have had some impact in it going down that road. Peezy also took shots at James Harrison, and the guys aren’t convinced Harrison will take the high road on this.

Former Penguin Tyler Kennedy joined the show. TK sat on the fence when he was asked about which country he was rooting for between the US and Canada. Tyler told the guys he took and passed his US citizenship test and mentioned a few of the questions on there. Tyler thinks Canada is the most-talented team in the Olympics and broke down what the United States squad looks like.

A Steelers family feud took up the top story today – Joey Porter Sr. vs Ben Roethlisberger. Peezy was on the podcast hosted by Cam Heyward and took big shots at Big Ben – calling him a bad teammate and a bad person. Was this news to anyone? The guys took sides of the debate. Is Porter the right messenger for this? We have also noticed multiple current and former Steelers taking Porter’s side of the fray.

PM Team FULL Show 2-10-26

Pitt athletics is in a tailspin, especially the basketball programs. Pitt men’s team may miss the ACC tournament, which only takes 15/18 schools. Pitt women’s team is in the midst of another terrible season and their coach is being sued by multiple current and former players. How do you feel about college athletics right now? Is the freedom getting out of hand? We have seen players get drafted into the NBA and try coming back to college. Are people OK with the way of college athletics? Name Game.

The Seahawks traded DK Metcalf to the Steelers and Geno Smith to the Raiders after a 10-7 season along with firing their offensive coordinator after last season, which led to some thinking they were rebuilding. They were just retooling. They made shrewd moves and nailed the draft in the last 4 seasons in pursuit to a dominant Seahawks victory in Super Bowl LX. Being bold paid off – that doesn’t always work, but for Seattle it did. NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson from CBS Sports joined the show. With the Steelers in need of another WR, Ryan told the guys it is a ‘deep’ group in the 2026 class. Ryan said Carnell Tate is probably out of the question, but there is a slew of WRs behind him that will be on the Steelers board at 21st overall. Denzel Boston and Jordyn Tyson are the top two names Ryan gave the guys. Ryan pointed out some receivers that will be around on the second night of the selection process. Makai Lemon drew comparisons to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who just won a Super Bowl and OPOY. Ryan told the guys

What does a Super Bowl win for Sam Darnold mean? How long did we spend talking about Darnold to the Steelers last offseason? It was fair to question if Darnold would flourish in Pittsburgh under Mike Tomlin and the shackles he’s known to putting on the offense. But Tomlin is gone and Mike McCarthy is in. Does that give you faith the Steelers can find a reclamation project and reach the big game? Out of the names on the market, who can McCarthy thrive with? Is Malik Willis the frontrunner in this argument? What about Kyler Murray? Is there anyone else that tickles your fancy? Will there be another Sam Darnold in 2026? The first two callers suggested Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow being traded to the Steelers. Bucco Minute – The geeks love the Pirates in 2026. Fangraphs has their win projection at 82.8 – second in the NL Central. Their projection also has them as the 6th best team in the National League.

NFL Network suggested on Super Bowl Sunday that Aaron Rodgers returning to Pittsburgh is increasing by the day. Is this what we want? How long will we have to wait around this time? In what spot would we want Rodgers back? He put up good numbers against mostly bad teams or bad defenses. He was bad in the biggest games. Can the Steelers win a Super Bowl with that? Do fans want the Steelers to run it back in 2026? Sports Court w/ our friends from Edgar Snyder & Associates. The guys wanted to get the lawyer viewpoint on the legal battle between DK Metcalf and the fan from the Lions game in December. How much money is at-risk for Metcalf in this suit? Rob and Nick told the guys that in Michigan, you can set the monetary amount when filing a lawsuit, but you can’t do that in Pennsylvania. Did the fan target Metcalf, and more importantly, can that be proven? The discussion turned to future losses and what Metcalf can lose in this. Why did the fan include Ford Field in the lawsuit? Rob and Nick went through

Pitt athletics is in a tailspin, especially the basketball programs. Pitt men’s team may miss the ACC tournament, which only takes 15/18 schools. Pitt women’s team is in the midst of another terrible season and their coach is being sued by multiple current and former players. How do you feel about college athletics right now? Is the freedom getting out of hand? We have seen players get drafted into the NBA and try coming back to college.

NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson from CBS Sports joined the show. With the Steelers in need of another WR, Ryan told the guys it is a ‘deep’ group in the 2026 class. Ryan said Carnell Tate is probably out of the question, but there is a slew of WRs behind him that will be on the Steelers board at 21st overall. Denzel Boston and Jordyn Tyson are the top two names Ryan gave the guys. Ryan pointed out some receivers that will be around on the second night of the selection process. Makai Lemon drew comparisons to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who just won a Super Bowl and OPOY. Ryan told the guys why the Steelers should probably stay away from Ty Simpson in the 1st round. Ryan reminded us that he had Will Howard as a 2nd or 3rd round projection last year in the draft, but of course he fell to the 6th round and pick 185. He added that he would like to see what Mike McCarthy can do with Howard as his QB1. If the Steelers take a QB this year, will it be Garrett Nussmeier due to his relationship with McCarthy? Ryan thinks Nussmei

The Seahawks traded DK Metcalf to the Steelers and Geno Smith to the Raiders after a 10-7 season along with firing their offensive coordinator after last season, which led to some thinking they were rebuilding. They were just retooling. They made shrewd moves and nailed the draft in the last 4 seasons in pursuit to a dominant Seahawks victory in Super Bowl LX. Being bold paid off – that doesn’t always work, but for Seattle it did.

Bucco Minute – The geeks love the Pirates in 2026. Fangraphs has their win projection at 82.8 – second in the NL Central. Their projection also has them as the 6th best team in the National League.

What does a Super Bowl win for Sam Darnold mean? How long did we spend talking about Darnold to the Steelers last offseason? It was fair to question if Darnold would flourish in Pittsburgh under Mike Tomlin and the shackles he’s known to putting on the offense. But Tomlin is gone and Mike McCarthy is in. Does that give you faith the Steelers can find a reclamation project and reach the big game? Out of the names on the market, who can McCarthy thrive with? Is Malik Willis the frontrunner in this argument? What about Kyler Murray? Is there anyone else that tickles your fancy?

Sports Court w/ our friends from Edgar Snyder & Associates. The guys wanted to get the lawyer viewpoint on the legal battle between DK Metcalf and the fan from the Lions game in December. How much money is at-risk for Metcalf in this suit? Rob and Nick told the guys that in Michigan, you can set the monetary amount when filing a lawsuit, but you can’t do that in Pennsylvania. Did the fan target Metcalf, and more importantly, can that be proven? The discussion turned to future losses and what Metcalf can lose in this. Why did the fan include Ford Field in the lawsuit? Rob and Nick went through the next steps in the process. There could be 6-8 months before witnesses even get questioned.

NFL Network suggested on Super Bowl Sunday that Aaron Rodgers returning to Pittsburgh is increasing by the day. Is this what we want? How long will we have to wait around this time? In what spot would we want Rodgers back? He put up good numbers against mostly bad teams or bad defenses. He was bad in the biggest games. Can the Steelers win a Super Bowl with that?

PM Team FULL Show 2-9-26

Does the Marcell Ozuna signing make the Pirates a legit threat in the NL Central? Are they better than the Brewers, Cubs and/or Reds? Poni thinks they are a team that should win games in the mid-80s, which could mean a postseason berth. Where does Ozuna fit into this lineup? And what does that lineup look like? Are the Pirates a playoff team? Do callers think the Pirates can make the playoffs? PG columnist Noah Hiles joined the show. Noah formerly covered the Pirates for the PG and still takes part in a baseball podcast. Noah isn’t sure how all of these pieces fit in the Pirates lineup after signing Marcell Ozuna to a 1-year deal earlier today. Noah said Ozuna is unquestionably a better player than Andrew McCutchen. He said the offense is better, but pitching still has to lead the way with a defense that isn’t good. Noah thinks keeping Jared Triolo in the lineup is important for what he provides on defense alone. Noah wants the Pirates to add a utilityman and another pitcher because it’s still a group of