Free Agency Signings and Trades
With all of the big free agency signings and the offseason trades, one team has had the most success this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Although big names like Saquon Barkley and Kirk Cousins signed with other teams, the Steelers made multiple trades and signings that put them from a mid, first-round exit team to a darkhorse playoff team before the draft.
The first big thing that Omar Khan, the Steelers’ general manager, chose to do was completely change the quarterback room. For the first time since 1957, the Steelers will have a roster with ZERO quarterbacks from the previous season. The Steelers released failed project Mitchell Trubisky after his poor two seasons as the backup, freeing a decent amount of cap space. After that, Mason Rudolph, who was the spark at the end of the most recent season, left to sign with the Tennessee Titans to see if he can make a stronger career for himself. Finally, they traded former first-round pick Kenny Pickett after his diva episode towards the end of the season and how he handled the other moves the Steelers had made. The move I am referring to is the biggest move the Steelers made this offseason, which was signing former Superbowl champion and Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner Russell Wilson. With the Broncos paying almost all of his salary, the Steelers only owe Wilson $1.2 million a year, almost paying him 1/212th of our salary cap. After this, the Steelers decided to trade for Justin Fields and ONLY gave up a conditional 6th-round pick. This means that if Justin Fields plays over 51% of the plays they owe a 4th-round pick instead of the 6th. After these moves, the Steelers quarterback room went from Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
In addition to the quarterback room, there were some other big moves made on offense. The Steelers released center Mason Cole, wide receiver Allen Robinson, and offensive lineman Chukwuma Okorafor. Releasing these players freed up about $10 million in cap space. After adding this extra space, the Steelers signed veteran wide receivers Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins to complement star wideout George Pickens. Van Jefferson was signed to a 1 year $1 million deal. Quez Watkins was signed to a 1-year deal but the salary details have not been released yet. These signings were because Omar Khan had traded our other standout receiver Diontae Johnson to the Panthers for cornerback Donte Jackson. The 5’10” 180lbs corner had 49 solo tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 5 pass deflections on statistically one of the worst defenses in the league. With that, it’s hard to judge a player by how they play when they are put in a bad situation, and with the good stats Jackson had in the last season, he could easily be a great depth corner at CB2 or CB3.
On the flipside, the Steelers also made some large moves on defense. After being ranked the 6th best defense in the league, the Steelers made moves that could potentially move them to #1. The first move we made was signing standout linebacker Patrick Queen to a 3-year $41 million deal. The former first-round pick played a great MLB 2 role under superstar linebacker Roquan Smith, but the Ravens didn’t have enough cap space to sign both leaving him to free agency. Another great signing was safety DeShon Elliott from Miami. Signing a 2-year $6 million deal, the 6’1” 210lbs safety is a great budget addition to the secondary.
Last but not least, the Steelers made some improvements on special teams. After recent struggles and inconsistency with punting, the Steelers released former 6th-round pick Pressley Harvin. The Steelers then turned around and signed standout punter Cameron Johnston to a 3-year $9 million contract. With this upgrade, the defense won’t have to fight to keep opponents from scoring as much because the ball will be put in a better spot every time the offense fails to score.
5 Round Mock Draft and Analysis
Using a mock draft simulator from https://www.profootballnetwork.com, I drafted 5 round mock draft of what I believe the Steelers should draft.
Round 1 pick 20.) Cooper DeJean – The Steelers are in dire need of another star CB to back up Joey Porter Jr., and the Iowa defensive back fits the description. At 6’0, the 206lb cornerback has the speed and coverage to be a great CB2 and potentially take the CB1 spot.
Round 2 pick 51.) Zach Fraizer – The standout center at West Virginia is the second-best center in this deep IOL draft, and because of how similar Frazier and Jackson Powers-Johnson are as a player it doesn’t hurt to take a center in the second round as opposed to the first.
Round 3 pick 84.) Jeremiah Trotter Jr. – One of the highly rated linebackers in the draft, taking support in the linebacker room would help strengthen the linebacker room.
Round 4 pick 98.) Maason Smith – One of the most athletic defensive tackles in the draft, Smith could be a potential replacement for Cameron Heyward.
Round 5 pick 119.) Luke McCaffrey – Being Christian McCaffrey’s younger brother, the Rice wideout has the physicals to become a good WR2 or WR3. The Steelers could use an extra wideout if they don’t trade for Ayiuk or another star wide receiver.
Whatever happens towards the end of this offseason, and after the draft, make sure you watch out for the Steelers this year. Will Mike Tomlin have his first losing season in 17 seasons? Or will the Steelers surprise people and make it farther than the first round of the playoffs this year?
