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: Who would you rather the Steelers sign, Terrell Edmunds or Tyrann Mathieu, all factors considered?
When it was first reported that the Steelers had shown interest in free agent Pro Bowl safety Tyrann Mathieu, it caused a lot excitement among fans that has since died down. Most have seemingly moved on, questioning why he is available and looking for his fourth NFL team.
Mathieu will be 30 next month and is not coming off of his best season. It is not clear what level of play his next team will be getting out of him. He will also cost probably twice as much as Terrell Edmunds, who has four years of starting experience with the Steelers, and three years of experience playing with Minkah Fitzpatrick, whom they’re preparing to make the highest-paid safety in NFL history.
Although I would imagine most would say that Mathieu as a player in 2022 will be better than Edmunds in 2022, age, familiarity, and price all factor into these discussions. And chances are moves will be made at the position soon, if not this week.
So, all things considered, would you move on and sign Mathieu, say, to a two-year, $16 million deal, a player that doesn’t offer you a long-term future but would give you quality play for a short period of time, for which you would be paying full price? Or would you take back Edmunds, who can continue to develop with Fitzpatrick and come at a more affordable rate? All the while factoring in the inevitability of Fitzpatrick’s contract for the remainder of his career? Is Edmunds the Ryan Clark to Fitzpatrick’s Troy Polamalu?
