Are the Pittsburgh Steelers banking on securing their next starting center in the 2024 NFL Draft?
We are roughly a couple of weeks into free agency, the start of the new league year. The Pittsburgh Steelers long ago released their previous starting center, Mason Cole, and thus far they have no replacement. The fact that general manager Omar Khan puffed up Nate Herbig as a potential option raises concerns about their plans.
It’s not entirely accurate to say that the Steelers have sat on their hands this whole time. They did bring veteran C Mitch Morse in for a visit, but he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The center market has proven surprisingly robust, perhaps a bit richer than Pittsburgh expected.
The Steelers seem to like this draft class a lot, perhaps particularly Jackson Powers-Johnson. The Oregon center is arguably the fan favorite for the team’s first-round draft pick, even if center isn’t a premium position relative to first-round value.
I will note that Khan left all options on the table when he talked about the center position, including trades. He has already pulled off several trades, trading away Diontae Johnson and Kenny Pickett and acquiring Justin Fields. They could even end up re-signing Cole.
But the Steelers seemed to have put all their center eggs in the draft basket in 2021 already. They put their hand in the magician’s hat and out popped Kendrick Green. We should note the year that they passed on taking other centers and opted for Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth.
The Steelers signed Cole as a veteran free agent after just one year of play from Green at center. Cole himself only lasted two seasons, and now they’re looking for another to man the position. But are they really waiting until the draft to try to add a center who may not be ready to start right away?
The reality is we don’t know all that much about Khan as general manager yet. He doesn’t make decisions unilaterally but rather in a collective. Nevertheless, his personality shapes the direction of that collective, and we don’t have enough data to definitively pinpoint that influence.
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. Does Russell Wilson make them a Super Bowl-caliber team, or are they wasting a year? Will he play just one season in Pittsburgh before moving on, or the Steelers moving on from him? How will the team address the depth chart?
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?
