The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 season is over, already eliminated from the postseason after suffering a 42-21 loss at the hands of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. They just barely made the postseason with a 9-7-1 record and a little help from their friends.
This is an offseason of major change, with the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, the possible retirement of general manager Kevin Colbert, and the decisions about the futures of many important players to be made, such as Joe Haden, Stephon Tuitt, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and others.
Aside from exploring their options at the quarterback position, the top global priority, once again, figures to be addressing the offensive line, which they did not do quite adequately enough a year ago. Dan Moore Jr. looks like he may have a future as a full-time starter, but Kendrick Green was clearly not ready. Chukwuma Okorafor is heading into free agency, as is Trai Turner.
These are the sorts of topics 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. There is rarely a concrete answer, but this is your venue for exploring the topics we present through all their uncertainty.
Question: Will Montravius Adams be the next Steelers pending unrestricted free agent to re-sign?
With the start of the new league year fast approaching, and the ‘legal tampering’ window about to open up, the Steelers are beginning to get on with their business. Over the past two days, they have reached agreements to re-sign two of their pending free agents, safety Miles Killebrew and cornerback Arthur Maulet. They have also placed a restricted tender on quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
These signings certainly cannot be construed as addressing some of their biggest free agents, which include wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, guard Trai Turner, tackle Chukwuma Okorafor, safety Terrell Edmunds, and cornerbacks Joe Haden and Ahkello Witherspoon.
So what comes next? Might we see defensive lineman Montravius Adams agree to a deal to stay in Pittsburgh before the official start of the new league year? The five-year veteran, originally signed by the Steelers off of the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad in the middle of last season, has said that he could see Pittsburgh being his long-term home in the NFL.
Adams played a critical role in the second half of the season due to injuries and performance struggles along the defensive line, with Tyson Alualu injured in Week 2, Carlos Davis missing most of the season, and Isaiah Buggs eventually getting benched. He came in and immediately commanded ‘starter’ snaps at nose tackle.
Though he only played in five games, Adams logged 171 defensive snaps for the Steelers during the regular season, accounting for 48 percent of the defensive snaps played from the time that he was first signed.
Alualu is expected back, however, so Adams would be re-signing in order to provide depth, at least for the 2022 season. Still, it shouldn’t be an issue to find him snaps. Isaiahh Loudermilk will have to be the one concerned about his playing time if they continue to dress only five defensive linemen, unless he can pass Chris Wormley on the depth chart, if indeed Stephon Tuitt returns.
