Which Steelers pending free agents do the Steelers need to re-sign?
The Steelers have 17 players set to become restricted or unrestricted free agents next month. Few of them will attract considerable attention on the open market. Arguably QB Mason Rudolph is the only name of much significance in a general sense. But for the Steelers, which of their own free agents do they need to re-sign?
You can follow the link to review our free agent analysis series, but these are the names: (unrestricted} QB Mason Rudolph; CB Levi Wallace; CB James Pierre; CB Chandon Sullivan; NT Montravius Adams; OLB Markus Golden; ILB Kwon Alexander; S Miles Killebrew; ILB Mykal Walker; DL Armon Watts; ILB Blake Martinez; WR Miles Boykin; DB Elijah Riley; (restricted) LS Christian Kuntz; RB Godwin Igwebuike; DL Renell Wren; and OLB Chapelle Russell.
Second-year OL Dylan Cook is an exclusive rights free agent, so we don’t really need to consider him. We can take for granted that the Steelers will re-sign him. The others are all candidates to hit the open market. That includes the restricted free agents, because none of them will earn a tag.
So which of those names do the Steelers need to bring back? Or perhaps we should use tamer terms. Which of these players would benefit the Steelers to bring back? For the right price, of course. You don’t want to overpay for an All-Pro special teamer.
The Steelers have already said that they want to re-sign Rudolph. Outside of him, they haven’t commented on any of the other players hitting free agency. I think that’s partly a testament to the relative insignificance of the group.
There have been some indications that the Steelers want to keep Levi Wallace around, but that’s about it. Everything else is speculation and deduction. Do they want to re-sign Christian Kuntz and Markus Golden? Probably. Do they care if Chapelle Russell sticks around? Probably not.
The Steelers’ 2023 season has been put out of its misery, ending as so many have before in recent years: a disappointing, blowout playoff loss. The only change-up lately is when they miss the playoffs altogether. But with the Buffalo Bills stamping them out in the Wildcard Round, they have another long offseason ahead.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Is Kenny Pickett the guy? Will he get another season’s reprieve without a serious challenge? How will the team address the depth chart? Do they re-sign Mason Rudolph, one of few significant unrestricted free agents?
The Steelers are swirling with more questions this offseason than usual, frankly, though the major free agent list is less substantial than usual. It’s just a matter of…what happens next? Where do they go from here? How do they find the way forward?
