The Steelers made a big move at the start of free agency, and they’ve backed it up by … doing nothing.
DJ D-Wrek, can I please get the Days of Our Lives theme? While I wait on the song that has become the symbol of Pittsburgh’s last sporting hope’s misfortune (the Pens are wayward, and Pirates’ owner Bob Nutting seems more concerned with the sales of his Wheeling News-Register than knowing how to win a baseball game), let me summarize the Steelers’ problem last season.
Let me count the ways of angst. 1) The Steelers had a red zone scoring rate of 48.2 percent (29th); 2) an average kick return length of 23.0 yds (last in the league by 1.4); 3) an average of 4.06 yards per carry (Pro Football Reference for 20th in the NFL, but running the numbers with a calculator gives me 25th; 4) a sack rate of 8.94 percent, 27th in the league, but similar deal to yards per carry, I calculate it at 28th; and 5) the O-Line got shredded into pieces last season, and the only things saving them were K Chris Boswell and a defense that was first in the league in turnovers forced (33).
Pittsburgh doesn’t have a quarterback, as Russell Wilson and Justin Fields had their contracts expire, their top running back also left, and the Steelers ended up with an offensive line with a couple of promising pieces but otherwise made of Swiss cheese.
What do they do? They trade for a top-tier wideout, of course. The deal itself, DK Metcalf for a second-round pick, was terrific in a vacuum. But it’s going to be another half-century or more until I get to write these things from a rotating hexagonal prism-shaped RAAF spaceport 30,000 miles off the ground (and even then, it would be in 880 millibars of 3:1 nitrox, not a vacuum.) Instead, he will struggle because whoever the QB is won’t have time to throw at him.
They did at least attempt to secure a good QB in Sam Darnold, but the idea failed to launch, as he decided to take a 3-year, $100 million contract offered by the Seahawks. They ended up signing Oklahoma State ex-attendee Mason Rudolph to a two-year deal, but he isn’t the plan Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith have.
The Steelers organization is still looking for a big name under center to send their roster into contention for their 7th Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers is their answer. He is a player who will be 42 this coming season and has decayed into someone below-average from his prime as a four-time MVP. They wanted to move on from Big Ben, not get another one. It will likely take a lot of their remaining cap of $38.5 million, according to Spotrac, to sign him, as well. Spotrac doesn’t have an estimate, but his last contract had an average annual value of $37.5 million, and while it wouldn’t be that much, I still think it will be costly for Art Rooney, the Steelers owner, to make the deal.
This brings me to the main problem: the offensive line. The Steelers are 30th out of the 32 teams in OL cap hit. Predictably, that lack of spending has led to a lack of performance. Also, around 40 percent of that spend is on one man, G Issac Seumalo. However, according to Pro Football Focus, Seumalo is pulling his weight with a top 30% PFF grade amongst guards.
After that, it gets shaky, with RT Broderick Jones not only being a sieve on pass protection last season but earning a penalty every other game. On the other hand, fellow offensive tackle Troy Fautanu did well in his limited time on the field but will have to move into the left tackle spot where he played at Washington. Both tackles could use some veteran presence to continue their development, if not replacing Jones outright, especially as they are the next two highest cap hits on the offensive line.
That area is also very vulnerable to injury, with only nine players on contract across the line. With football being the game that it is and several injuries happening per game—even before you consider how linemen make the most contact per play—I am very concerned that a bad break or two will have whoever they put at quarterback running for their lives on every play.
Ultimately, the Steelers need to be more focused on their O-Line during the rest of free agency, as they now have the receiving pieces to make any reasonable quarterback look half-decent and a star running back you can draft very quickly. Still, it’s all for nothing if your line is awful enough to cut a promo on like you’re a wrestling commentator turned radio host.
It seems like they didn’t get the memo, and this team is determined to get blown out in the Wild Card round again. As no one learns lessons they would have if they had paid attention to last season, so are the Days of Our Steelers.
