The Pittsburgh Steelers are now into the offseason, following a year in which they had high hopes for Super Bowl success, but ultimately fell short of even reaching the postseason at 8-8. It was a tumultuous season, both on the field and within the roster, and the months to follow figure to have some drama as well, especially in light of the team’s failure to improve upon the year before.
The team made some bold moves over the course of the past year, and some areas of the roster look quite a bit different than they did a year ago, or even at the start of the regular season. Whether due to injuries or otherwise, a lot has transpired, and we’re left to wonder how much more will change prior to September.
How will Ben Roethlisberger’s rehab progress as he winds toward recovery from an elbow injury that cost him almost the entire season? What about some of the key young players, some of whom have already impressed, others still needing quite a bit of growth? Will there be changes to the coaching staff? The front office? Who will they not retain in free agency, and whom might they bring in?
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: Is there any chance of Javon Hargrave remaining in Pittsburgh?
Free agency can be a rough time for Steelers fans. More often than not, their team remains more or less idle outside of a minor signing here and there in terms of outside free agents. And we have certainly seen notable names sign elsewhere, some of whom Pittsburgh may have made no serious effort to re-sign. Either because they had somebody to replace him or because they knew they wouldn’t be in the market.
The Steelers don’t have anybody to replace Javon Hargrave, at least not 1:1, but it’s possible that they are working with the understanding that they will not be in his price range. And that can be impacted by their interest in retaining Bud Dupree as well.
A third-round pick in 2016, Hargrave has clearly proven to be the team’s best pick from that year, but it’s quite arguable that he has played too well to remain in Pittsburgh’s 3-4 scheme, and playing behind the likes of All-Pro Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt, who should certainly be fully healthy for 2020.
For me personally, I’m at the point where I’m pretty much putting Hargrave’s chances of staying in Pittsburgh at zero. His market would have to really bottom out for that to happen, but at the very least, there’s no doubt that they will let him find out what his market is for himself.
