As the new NFL league year quickly approaches many teams have holes on their rosters that they want to improve. Some teams have a reputation for being big spenders in free agency, while other teams, like the Pittsburgh Steelers, do not. That is one of the reasons Pittsburgh was ranked as one of the least intriguing teams ahead of free agency in a new CBS Sports article.
Writing for CBS Sports, Jeff Kerr ranked the Steelers as the 30th most intriguing team entering the new league year, referencing the fact that Pittsburgh has a rookie quarterback.
“The Steelers don’t have a lot of cap space available, which is awkward since they have a quarterback on his rookie deal,” wrote Kerr. “Pittsburgh appears primed for a postseason return, but needs to add talent on the offensive line to protect its young asset in Kenny Pickett.”
Pittsburgh is not going to make any huge moves in free agency, it just isn’t who they are as an organization. Last season was their most intriguing free agency in a long time, signing Mitch Trubisky, James Daniels, Mason Cole, and Myles Jack to multi-year deals after the retirement of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Don’t expect an offseason like that again.
This season there isn’t so much uncertainty in the Steel City. Pittsburgh has their quarterback of the future now in Kenny Pickett, and with their offensive line seeing so much improvement last season there isn’t the necessity to go out and sign one of the better free agents at the offensive line position like last year.
The Steelers have a lot of high draft picks, four in the first three rounds to be exact. Pittsburgh, a team that has historically built through the draft, will be doing that again this season. It may not be intriguing for other fanbases, but it is what Steelers fans have been used to for decades.
Kerr even wrote that the core for Pittsburgh is in place, what is left if to be filled out with draft picks to help both now and in the future.
“This team has a young core in place, but the draft will be worth monitoring. They have two picks in the second round.”
The two picks in the second round are picks 32 and 49, meaning that the Steelers will have high second round draft picks to help out the team on cheap deals. Of course, Pittsburgh has to hit on these picks for them to work out, but isn’t that how this team operates almost every offseason?
Pittsburgh being ranked the 30th most intriguing team this offseason is not surprising one bit. The Steelers rarely ever have an exciting offseason, but it is also one of the reasons they are the most stable franchise in the NFL. The team does not try and hit home runs on free agents, and with a core group of guys of Kenny Pickett, T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cameron Heyward, Pat Freiermuth, Najee Harris, and George Pickens they don’t have to. The most important thing for Pittsburgh this offseason is that their younger talent takes a leap to playing at a higher level. And unfortunately for those looking for action in the offseason, we won’t be able to find out about that until training camp starts in late July.
