The Pittsburgh Steelers well underway with the offseason workouts at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, also referred to as the South Side Facility. We are already into the heart of the offseason, where hope springs eternal following a few months of pretty significant changes, in terms of both departures and arrivals.
How are the rookies performing? What about the players that the team signed in free agency? Who is missing time with injuries, and when are they going to be back? What are the coaches saying about what they are going to do this season that might be different from how it was a year ago?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: Should the Steelers be interested in bringing back Nat Berhe?
The Steelers carried six safeties on the 53-man roster into the season last year. Right now, they only have four of them remaining. Morgan Burnett was released one year into a three-year deal, while Nat Berhe, who was on a one-year deal, was not re-signed.
He remains unsigned, in fact, even after the team failed to address the safety position in free agency or in the draft, and according to the player himself, there was some early initial interest in the two sides working together again.
With it now being the deadest time of the year, don’t expect much to happen for the next few weeks, but it certainly wouldn’t be a shock if the Steelers were to bring him back on a one-year, veteran-minimum qualifying contract.
Berhe was signed as something of a special teams replacement for Robert Golden last year, and considering the losses they suffered to that unit, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring back a player who can contribute in that area.
He was also the next man up at dime back originally when Burnett was injured. Of course, Berhe ended up getting injured himself, and finished the season on injured reserve. He wouldn’t have to be that next man up again this year, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some experienced depth.
Right now, the team has a few young players, including a pair of rookie college free agents, competing for a potential fifth safety spot, while they talk up the safety versatility of some of their cornerbacks, including starting nickel Mike Hilton.
I’m sure they would rather not resort to doing that. It wouldn’t hurt to give Berhe a call. He would certainly be in their price range and I’m not sure there’s much else to find at this time of year for the minimum that actually offers some experience, should Marcus Allen struggle for example.
