With less than two weeks left before the start of free agency, it doesn’t sound like the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a new deal in place before March 10 with soon-to-be unrestricted free agent linebacker Jason Worilds.
According to Scott Brown of ESPN.com, the Steelers will allow Worilds to test free agency.
Last offseason, Worilds was given the transition tag that paid him $9.754 million for the 2014 season. Tagging Worilds again this offseason would result in a price tag of roughly $13 million and that’s obviously too much to pay to a player who only registered 15.5 sacks the last two season.
The Steelers drafted Worilds in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech. He’s appeared in 73 regular season games during his five years in Pittsburgh.
If Worilds is indeed allowed to test free agency it won’t be surprising to see the Tennessee Titans or Arizona Cardinals make a run at him. Several other teams that run 3-4 defenses also might kick Worilds’ tires.
The Steelers currently only have one outside linebacker that was on their 53 man roster last season under contract for 2015 and that’s Jarvis Jones. While the team is expected to try to retain the services of outside linebacker Arthur Moats, it doesn’t appear as though veteran James Harrison will be re-signed.
The Steelers might try to sign another outside linebacker during free agency if the price is right and are sure to address the position at some point during the 2015 NFL Draft.
