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: Marcus Allen
Position: ILB
Experience: 4 Years
For the first time in his career as a full-time member of the 53-man roster, Marcus Allen played zero defensive snaps in 2022. Even as a rookie, still playing safety, he recorded 18 snaps on defense in two games. After spending almost all of the 2019 season on the practice squad, however, he moved to linebacker, regained his place on the roster, and logged over 200 snaps in 2020.
In the process, he also reinvented himself as a special teamer. He logged over 300 snaps there in 2021, and 230 last season in 15 games. But, as mentioned, zero snap came on defense (he managed 62 snaps on defense a year earlier).
And it wasn’t because everybody remained healthy at inside linebacker all year. Robert Spillane, Devin Bush, and Myles Jack all dealt with injuries at some point, and even rookie seventh-round pick Mark Robinson ending the season with 44 defensive snaps played.
Unfortunately for the Penn State alum, his most memorable moment of the year — and perhaps of his football career — was an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Carolina Panthers when he walked up to the opposing team’s huddle and had a thing or two to say. I won’t go into the justifications made for it by teammates in hindsight.
Allen suffered torn biceps in late December that required surgery. He is an unrestricted free agent and isn’t likely to sign with anyone anytime soon. It’s possible that the Steelers will give him a call around training camp to see where he is, but they will look to address the inside linebacker position elsewhere. They signed two unrestricted free agents and still have options like Tae Crowder on the roster.
