I’ve dedicated a few recent posts to current Arizona Cardinals tackle Kelvin Beachum with the notion that he might be someone the Pittsburgh Steelers consider signing should if becomes an unrestricted free agent in March. It’s easy to link Beachum to the Steelers because not only is he a former draft pick of theirs, but he also played for new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm at SMU. I’m now not the only one linking Beachum to the Steelers, however, as Pro Football Focus has him as a potential fit to return to the team that originally drafted him.
In their updated rankings of what they perceive to be the NFL’s top 150 free agents in 2021, PFF predicts that Beachum will sign a one year, $4.5 million contract with the Steelers this offseason.
Wait, what? $4.5 million for one season? Yeah, that’s way too rich for the Steelers as there’s no way in hell they will be able to afford a cap hit $4.5 million in 2021. ZERO! They might could give Beachum $4.5 in total in 2021 as part of a two-year deal so that he has a low first-year cap charge, but that’s about it.
After Klemm was named the Steelers new offensive line coach not long ago, Beachum wasn’t shy about showing his support for his former college coach. Not only did he make that support known on Twitter, but he also did the same in an interview with Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“I wouldn’t be in the NFL if it wasn’t for Adrian Klemm,” Beachum said.
Beachum went as far as to say that Klemm will change the offensive line culture for the Steelers as well.
“Number 1, he’s going to change the culture and the mindset of the group,” Beachum said, per Fittipaldo. “Secondly, his concept of developing players will be big. The small details of developing players is one of his biggest attributes. He did it at SMU. He did it at UCLA, and he did it in Pittsburgh. He can coach all kinds of different players. I was different than Kolton Miller, who was drafted in the first round. He knows what makes guys tick. That’s the most important thing he’s going to bring to that group. And lastly, this is serious to him. Sometimes people look at former players who get into coaching and wonder, but he takes this to heart.”
He had quite a few other glowing remarks about Klemm in that interview with Fittipaldo as well as admitting that he still stays in contact for tips on various things and how to be professional.
The start of free agency is now right at five weeks away and so that’s a long wait to see if Beachum will re-sign with the Cardinals or decide to test the market again. If he does become a free agent, I’m willing to bet the Steelers will show some sort of interest in their former seventh-round draft pick. That interest, however, if there is indeed any, won’t be to the tune of one-year for $4.5 million, however.
