This isn’t your grandaddy’s Pittsburgh Steelers offseason. The most aggressive and radical week of free agency the team’s ever experienced begs the question of – why? Why are the typically stable and careful Steelers, known for making fixes around the margins than wholesale changes, taking this approach?
The last seven years is why. No matter what the Steelers have done, who they’ve signed, who they’ve hired, how they’ve persevered, the results have been the same. No playoff wins.
This seven-year drought is the longest post-merger in team history. It’s changed the Steelers from Pittsburgh: Super Bowl contenders to Pittsburgh: let’s just have a winning record. The standard has dropped, the bar’s been lowered. Winning is tough and sustaining as Super Bowl contender even tougher, especially as the Steelers dealt with an aging franchise quarterback who retired before they had found the next one. But you don’t need to be a top AFC team to win a playoff game. The Steelers haven’t just lost, either. They’ve lost ugly. Upset at home by Jacksonville and Cleveland. Blown out by Kansas City. Dug a huge hole against Buffalo before their comeback bid fell short.
Since 2017, the Steelers are one of five AFC teams not to win a playoff game. The other four? The Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Denver Broncos, and Las Vegas Raiders. Over that time frame, the rest of the AFC North has a combined eight playoff victories. Pittsburgh has none. Its five-game playoff losing streak is tied for the second-longest active mark in football. A nasty stat.
It’s a heavy weight on this organization. You could feel it all winter. None more than from team president Art Rooney II. Though still in his normally calm tone, there was a sense of urgency and frustration in his words.
“We’ve had enough of this,” he said to 93.7 The Fan of the team’s continued playoff losses. “It’s time to get some wins. It’s time to take these next steps. I think there’s some urgency here, for sure.”
Rooney isn’t Jerry Jones; he isn’t meddling in the team’s day-to-day operations. But when he speaks, people listen. And he controls the chessboard. If he wants some big-picture idea done, it gets done. Fix the run game in 2021? They draft RB Najee Harris. Improve quarterback play and have a better plan to win in 2024? Goodbye Kenny Pickett, hello Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
In fairness, trading Pickett was probably never the Steelers’ initial plan. It became a byproduct of the Wilson deal and Pittsburgh rolled with the punches. But this guiding light is why the Steelers signed their highest-priced free agent in team history, inking LB Patrick Queen to a three-year deal. It’s why they are exploring WR Mike Williams after trading Diontae Johnson, another radical move, and why they might have their sights set on something bigger.
These moves haven’t made Pittsburgh a Super Bowl contender. But they’ve advanced the metaphorical football in the hopes of doing the same to the literal one. This group, if it stays healthy and things come together as expected, is capable of winning a playoff game. And we’re not even done evaluating the roster with free agency and the entire draft ahead, both opportunities to add more talent.
Pittsburgh must get over the hump. And it needs to happen this year. Win a playoff game, play on Divisional Weekend, and remember what a postseason run can feel like. This is the window. Pittsburgh’s defense was the oldest in the NFL last year. DL Cam Heyward is 35. T.J. Watt turns 30 in October. Combined, they’ve won a singular playoff game. Like Maurkice Pouncey, that has to be a major pain point for Mike Tomlin and the organization. Two Steelers legends without a postseason resume, the only accolade missing in their incredible careers. Pittsburgh can’t wait around for the offense to figure things out two to three years from now. By then, even if the Steelers build up their offense to something respectable, they’ll have to spend the same energy reshaping a defense that is over the hill and has become the team’s weakness.
Creating a complete and balanced roster is tough but Pittsburgh’s been on the seesaw. In the Killer B’s era, the Steelers had a potent offense but shaky defense. The last five years, they’ve had good to great defenses and sputtering offenses. They can’t get each side to remotely balance out. These moves, and ones forthcoming, help strike that equilibrium.
Urgency. Not panic. There’s a difference. The Steelers are still being smart about their approach. They haven’t committed long-term to either quarterback. Queen’s deal has terms favorable to the team. They’ve improved their overall draft capital and standing. But they’re moving swiftly. They know their playoff drought has to end. They know 2024 needs to be the year. It’s the catalyst to all these moves and everything else the team does until Week 1.
