First Weekend Of Free Agency: Steelers Friday Night Five Questions

Happy Friday and welcome to the first weekend of free agency and the 2021 NFL league year.

It’s been the busiest day for us and the Steelers. JuJu Smith-Schuster is officially on a one-year contract with voidable years that spread it over five seasons. And Steven Nelson has been granted permission to seek a trade. Failing that, the team is expected to release him.

So it’s already been an interesting weekend and Happy Hour has barely even started.

As usual, we have five questions for yinz on this Friday night and I look forward to reading the responses. Please take time to answer each one in the comment section below.

Have a great rest of the weekend and please stay safe and virus-free. Thank you for visiting the site this past week as well.

Peace and love, peace and love!

1 – The Pittsburgh Steelers have WR JuJu Smith-Schuster on their 2021 roster. They won’t have CB Steven Nelson. Are the Steelers a better or worse team because of it?

2 – Will the Steelers sign a veteran free agent CB to replace Steven Nelson or will they draft one/replace him internally? 

3 – To sign WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, would you have preferred the team to cut Nelson, CB Joe Haden, or TE Eric Ebron? 

4 – What round will the Steelers address defense in next month’s draft? I’m asking about any defensive position, not just cornerback. 

5 – Yes or no, will Mike Tomlin and/or Kevin Colbert attend Alabama’s Pro Day next week? If they do, what third coach will they bring with them? Will it be the offensive line coach, running backs coach, or someone else?

Recap of 2020 Fourth Offseason Weekend Friday Night 5 Questions

Question 1:   56.25% of Friday Night Five Question respondents believe the Steelers will sign tight end Jesse James within two weeks of last Friday. Jesse James remains a free agent as of this writing. He caught that ball!

Question 2:  Respondents guaranteed 13 of 19 Steelers unrestricted free agents will be on the Steelers roster at the start of the 2021 training camp. The respondents named Tyson Alualu most frequently as he appeared on 87% of the ballots. The Jacksonville Jaguars wiped out that guarantee. Zac Banner, Jordan Berry, and Cam Sutton all showed up on 60% of ballots. Banner and Sutton re-signed with the Steelers. Just one respondent, Jason Grubb, guaranteed JuJu would be on the Steelers roster. Training camp has not started yet but nice! We still await word on Jordan Berry. Matt Feiler and Mike Hilton who signed with other teams were less popular appearing on 33 and 27% of ballots, respectively. James Conner, Joshua Dobbs, Bud Dupree, Al Villanueva, Avery Williamson, and Chris Wormley received no guarantees from Depot respondents. Dupree left the Steelers and Wormley signed. Awaiting news on 11 Steelers unrestricted free agents on this Friday morning.

Question 3: 56% of respondents say JuJu Smith-Schuster will sign a contract with an annual new money average greater than $15.999 million. Rumors continue whether the Steelers have interest in signing JuJu or not. Who guessed he would sign a one-year deal and turn down higher offers?

Question 4: Respondents guessed at eight different destinations for Steeler’s tackle Alejandro Villanueva. We named the Indianapolis Colts as the most likely team Villanueva will sign with. Other teams mentioned include the New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Washington formerly called the Redskins. No one guess at big Al remaining in Pittsburgh in 2021.

Question 5: The Steelers will draft either Najee Harris, Javonte Williams, or Travis Etienne according to 62.5% of respondents.

Many thanks to all that continue participating in the Steelers Depot Friday Night Five Questions!