The Pittsburgh Steelers find that their 2016 season ended a bit prematurely, and are undergoing the exit meeting process a couple weeks sooner than they would have liked. Never the less, what must be done must be done, and we are now at the time of the year where we close the book on one season and look ahead to the next.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between Head Coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2016 season.
Player: Arthur Moats
Position: Outside Linebacker
Experience: 7 Years
This could definitely prove to be an interesting offseason for Arthur Moats as he enters the final year of a three-year deal in which he is scheduled to earn a base salary of $2.25 million, which, need I remind you, is more than what James Harrison is schedule to make.
While his position group lost a member in Jarvis Jones, the Steelers are bound to add another here, very realistically in the first round. Perhaps even two if the value is there. And we are looking at a player who ended the season as least ostensibly as on the bottom of the depth chart.
Moats entered the season as the starting left outside linebacker due to Bud Dupree being on injured reserve, but after the first five games, the coaching staff moved Anthony Chickillo, up over him, and it stayed that way for the rest of the season.
That’s not to say that it will remain that way throughout the offseason, but he is obviously in a more vulnerable position than he has been with the team than he has ever been through his three seasons since signing with them in free agency.
And it’s not because of anything that he does that is poor. It just seems as though there is always a search to improve his position, not matter what position that might be. He has served three separate stints in three separate seasons with Pittsburgh so far as a starter at some point during the year, only to be demoted.
There is a risk that when all is said and done and the Steelers have replenished their stable of edge defenders, they may not see Moats and his price tag as a value that makes sense any longer.
Then again, it’s not as though they blew $10 million on a cornerback, so they could afford to keep him just due to his value as a teammate and potential contributor on special teams, as well as his reliability as a player who can carry out any assignment with discipline at outside linebacker if needed. He is definitely one of the good guys and I’m sure nobody is in a rush to show him the door.
