The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2020 season is now in the books. It ended in spectacular fashion — though the wrong kind of spectacular — in a dismal postseason defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns, sending them into an early offseason mode after going 12-4 in the regular season and winning the AFC North for the first time in three years.
Since then, they have lost several players in free agency who were key members of the offense and defense. Multiple starters retired, as well. They made few notable additions in free agency, and are banking on contributions on offense from their rookies, as well as perhaps a last ride for Ben Roethlisberger.
The only thing facing them now as they head into 2021 is more questions. Right now, they lack answers. They know that they have Roethlisberger for one more year, but was that even the right decision? How successful can Najee Harris be behind a questionable offensive line? What kind of changes can Matt Canada and Adrian Klemm bring to the offense? And how can the defense retain the status quo with the losses of Bud Dupree, Steven Nelson, and Mike Hilton?
These are the sorts of questions we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football is a year-round pastime and there are always questions to ask, though there is rarely a concrete answer. This is your venue for exploring the topics we present through all of their uncertainty.
Question: Will free agent safety Malik Hooker ultimately sign with the Steelers?
The Steelers are not always a big ‘free agent visit’ team, so it’s always notable when they do bring in a player. At the same time, even with their relatively low numbers of visits, a fair number of them come and go without signing. Karl Joseph visited before the draft and ended up signing with Las Vegas.
What we do know is that Pittsburgh brought in Malik Hooker, who also plays safety, in recent weeks. This visit came after the draft process where they didn’t really do a lot to address their depth at safety. Which, with the departures of Sean Davis and Jordan Dangerfield, is thin. So we know they would like to make an addition there.
We also know that Hooker is a talented player at the bottom of his market. He only played two games last year because of an Achilles injury from which he’s still recovering. The market itself is already tanked because of the pandemic. While they have limited cap space, this would be the opportunity to acquire a talent for cheap, even if for one year.
But he’s already visited at least two other teams that we know of an plans to take several other visits between now and the start of training camp. A lot can happen between now and then. I think it’s clear Pittsburgh is interested, and as an area native, I have no doubt that, in principle, he’d like to play here. It’s just a matter of the numbers and the opportunity working out.
