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—some already decided, some not.
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 was re-signed, but Trai Turner was not. James Daniels and Mason Cole were added in free agency.
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: How and when will the Steelers fill the 90th spot on their offseason roster?
If you are one of our more loyal followers, then you are surely aware that we have discussed this subject probably a few times by now. Ever signed Trevon Mason was waived and Stephon Tuitt retired, Pittsburgh has only had an 89-man roster. In other words, they can add somebody to their roster without having to let anybody else go.
That roster spot is going to be filled, obviously. In what manner they fill it, and when, is less obvious. They could just sign anybody off the street who was willing to sign a contract and could pass a physical, if they want to. But do they have bigger plans for that open spot?
There is no rule stating that teams must carry exactly 90 players on their 90-man roster at any point of the NFL calendar, but for reasons that I imagine are obvious, it’s rather rare that teams don’t use every spot available to them.
With plenty of time between now and the start of training camp, Omar Khan and his scouts have plenty of time to figure out what they want to do. They could be calling teams, inquiring about possible candidates who are available for trade. The additional cap space that they had returned to them with Tuitt’s retirement could be burning a bit of a hole in their proverbial pocket. And it’s not like there aren’t areas of the roster lacking proven, quality depth.
