The Pittsburgh Steelers were back in the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex earlier than they had anticipated, having been ousted before they even reached the postseason. That unfortunately marked the sixth-consecutive season in which the Steelers failed to win a postseason game—tying their longest drought of the Super Bowl era. Yet again, they found themselves undergoing the exit meeting process earlier than anticipated, which means so did we.
The Steelers did arguably perform at or above expectations this year by going 9-8 and nearly making the postseason, a reflection of just how much talent they lost during the offseason, from Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Haden to most of their wide receiver room, not to mention Stephon Tuitt’s retirement.
While we might not know what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2022 season.
Player: Chris Wormley
Position: DL
Experience: 6 Years
Chris Wormley’s role has varied significantly during his three years with the Steelers. He played fairly little in his first season in 2020 behind Stephon Tuitt. He started 14 game the following season with Tuitt sidelined. The Steelers did not move forward with Wormley as starter after Tuitt retired, but he was still the top reserve.
Indeed, he logged 338 snaps, or about 40 percent of the defensive total, up to the point that he tore his ACL against his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, 13 games into the season. By then he’d accumulated 29 tackles, including three for loss, with half a sack and a forced fumble.
The year before, filling in for Tuitt as a starter, Wormley had a career-high seven sacks, though that was never truly representative of the level of pass rusher he is. It was good production, however, for what the Steelers were paying for him.
Now an unrestricted free agent, Wormley is in the unfortunate position of not being healthy while on the open market. And he won’t be healthy for a while, perhaps not until around training camp, so he could be sitting around with little to no attention for a while.
That means the Steelers have to plan as though they are not bringing him back, and they may well not. Right now, 2022 third-round pick DeMarvin Leal would be in the position of the top backup behind Cameron Heyward and Larry Ogunjobi.
If Wormley were to return, it would likely be on a cheap veteran salary benefit deal, but the front office may prefer to move on and get younger. They still have Isaiahh Loudermilk, as well, and the sense is that they hope to address the defensive line early in the draft.
