The Pittsburgh Steelers have a hole at center following their release of center Mason Cole, and the team made an “aggressive push” to bring in center Mitch Morse before he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
A Pro Bowler during his time with the Buffalo Bills, Morse reportedly had a visit with the Steelers on Friday. He would’ve been a solid addition to man the middle and help shore up Pittsburgh’s offensive line, but the team didn’t end up landing the veteran. There are still some veteran free agent centers available, including Lloyd Cushenberry III, who was Russell Wilson’s center in Denver. But with a rookie class that also features Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier, the Steelers could look to the draft in addition to or in place of free agency to find their starting center in 2024.
It should be a busy free agency period for the Steelers as they have a number of holes with center being one of their biggest. Cole struggled throughout 2023 after a decent 2022 season, and the Steelers were quick to move on from him. Right now, Nate Herbig would be Pittsburgh’s starting center, so it’s clearly a position the team is going to look to address. Morse is going to be 32 when next season kicks off while Cushenberry will be just 26, so he’s a younger option, although he’ll likely be more expensive than Morse was. With the draft still being a viable option, the Steelers could also sign a less expensive center option like Aaron Brewer, who has experience with Arthur Smith, and then attack the position in the draft as well.
With the reported agreement with QB Russell Wilson on a one-year, $1.2 million contract, it’s already been a crazy offseason for the Steelers. It’s only going to get crazier with the legal tampering period beginning in just under three hours. We’ll see if the Steelers look to add a center early in the process like they tried to do with Morse, or if they’ll wait it out. Given the team’s agreement with Wilson though, Cushenberry could make a lot of sense. He was the best piece on a Denver offensive line that struggled for most of the past two seasons, and he’d be a nice upgrade for a Steelers offensive line that also features Isaac Seumalo, James Daniels and an emerging Broderick Jones.
At this point, nothing the Steelers could do will surprise me, and free agency is bound to be very interesting.
