In a move that has been uncharacteristic of the organization but is perhaps a reflection of the shifting economical reality, the Pittsburgh Steelers did not offer any of their qualifying players a restricted free agent tender in 2023.
They had four players who qualified, three of whom should have at least been under consideration: backup center J.C. Hassenauer, wide receiver and return specialist Steven Sims, and cornerback James Pierre. Of the three, only Pierre re-signed with the Steelers, the other two signing cheap one-year deals elsewhere.
A year after the Steelers traded for a bottom-of-the-roster wide receiver in Miles Boykin, who was set to play under an elevated fourth-year cap hit, they decided that these players didn’t merit that expense, with even a right-of-first-refusal tender in 2023 coming in at a non-guaranteed $2.6 million, approximately.
Pierre ended up re-signing on a one-year contract worth half that amount, but he’s not complaining—publicly, at least. “I don’t get into that stuff”, he told Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review when asked if there were any hard feelings over not being deemed worthy of the tender amount.
He said that when the Steelers did finally reach out to him, a week into free agency, he was just ready to “get back into the building” and get to work. “I just want to play ball at the end of the day, so that’s what I was focusing on: just playing ball”.
That’s what he’s doing now, though in a room that is a bit more crowded than even when he re-signed. While top cornerback Cameron Sutton departed in free agency, and Ahkello Witherspoon was eventually released—as was William Jackson III, who never played a down—they were replaced through free agency and the draft.
First was the signing of Patrick Peterson to take Sutton’s spot in the starting lineup. Then the Steelers landed Joey Porter Jr. with the 32nd-overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. When the weekend wound down and they found that Cory Trice Jr. was still on the board in the middle of the seventh round, they couldn’t resist temptation and double-dipped.
That makes it less certain that there is even a roster spot for Pierre by the time the regular season rolls around. if Peterson, Levi Wallace, Porter, and Trice all make the 53-man roster, in addition to Chandon Sullivan as a slot defender, then he could be in real trouble.
It might come down to a choice between Pierre and safety Miles Killebrew as to which player is more valuable on special teams, because otherwise the Steelers face the prospect of carrying 11 defensive backs. Their safety room is already full with Minkah Fitzpatrick, Damontae Kazee, Keanu Neal, and Tre Norwood in addition to Killebrew.
Pierre, a former college free agent out of Florida Atlantic, has been a quality special teams player and occasional role player on defense as an outside cornerback with six starts in 50 games and over 700 defensive snaps. He never quite rose to the level of diamond in the rough, however, and, failing to do so, may find himself giving way to the next potential diamond in Trice.
