Like Kwon Alexander, 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: Kwon Alexander
Position: Inside Linebacker
Experience: 9 Years
Kwon Alexander tore his Achilles tendon in Week 10 against the Green Bay Packers. Just a week earlier, he supplied the game-sealing interception, ending a threat from the Tennessee Titans. Signed to a one-year contract shortly after the start of training camp, he now has an uncertain future, and not just in Pittsburgh.
Alexander is an accomplished player, of that there is no question, his only question mark being his medical history. He managed to play every game in 2022 but missed at least eight in nearly every other year since 2017. By my count, he’s missed 43 games over the course of his nine-year career, missing at least four seven times.
Alexander’s astonishingly unreliable availability leaves him in his current predicament. Turning 30 in August and recovering from a major injury, already coming off a Veteran Salary Benefit deal, who in the world feels strongly about his future prospects?
Nobody is likely to sign Alexander any time soon, every team wanting to know his progress as he heals from his injury. The Steelers have the advantage there since they have to allow him to rehab at their facility. If they want to re-sign him when he is healthy, that shouldn’t prove much of a challenge.
But there is a lot of work to do in the meanwhile. Alexander played well for Pittsburgh with 41 tackles, five for loss, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception in just 362 snaps. He played in a rotation with Elandon Roberts and Cole Holcomb, the latter also recovering from a season-ending injury.
The Steelers won’t just wait on Alexander and then sign him later in the offseason, though. Chances are they sign an experienced, starter-worthy inside linebacker in free agency given Holcomb’s unclear status.
Should he prove healthy and ready to return to football by training camp, I hope the Steelers welcome him back. But where we stand now, that’s a discussion for well down the road.
