Like Chukwuma Okorafor, the Pittsburgh Steelers are right where we are: sitting at home being mad. Although they managed to make the playoffs in 2023, they lost in the first round. It has now been seven years without a postseason victory, the longest drought in franchise history. The question is what to do next.
The first step is always taking stock of what happened and what is left. That’s part of the exit meeting process, in which coaches meet with each player. They discuss the season and their expectations moving forward—and potentially their role within it.
While we might not know all the details about what goes on between head coach Mike Tomlin and his players during these exit meetings, we do know how we would conduct those meetings if they were let up to us. So here are the Depot’s exit meetings for the Steelers’ roster following the 2023 season.
Player: Chukwuma Okorafor
Position: Offensive Tackle
Experience: 6 Years
Within the past six months, T Chukwuma Okorafor lost his starting job and then his roster spot altogether. After spending the better part of the past four years as the Steelers’ right tackle, he’s currently looking for work. The Steelers cut him on Feb. 12, ending his six-year tenure with the organization.
I suspect the two parties mutually desired the divorce. Okorafor wants to start, and the odds of him ever starting again in Pittsburgh looked bleak. He even expressed some regret over re-signing with the team, given how things played out. He still had one year left on his contract, but the Steelers would have owed him nearly $9 million. That’s far too much to pay for a swing tackle.
Okorafor lost his starting job in Week 9. Ostensibly, the Steelers made the move for disciplinary reasons, Okorafor reportedly saying something out of line the week before. I still suspect they merely used that as a convenient excuse to get rookie Broderick Jones on the field.
All along, everybody thought that Jones needed to beat out Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle, but he spent the majority of the season instead starting at right tackle. Everybody still wants him to start at left tackle, however, and Moore can’t play on the right side.
In other words, the Steelers have a problem. Okorafor can passably play at right tackle, even if you want to look for upgrades. Jones is likely stronger at left tackle, though, and you can’t even trust Moore to play there. So now they have a hole in their starting lineup they have to fill or risk a significant drop-off in play.
Or they leave Jones at right tackle and continue to trot Moore out on the left side for one more season. Time will tell how they approach this, but barring something unforeseen, we know Okorafor is not a part of it.
