As if there wasn’t enough news for the day, here’s some more. Veteran center Mitch Morse is set to visit with the Pittsburgh Steelers ahead of free agency, The Trib’s Joe Rutter reports.
Morse, 31, was released by the Bills earlier this week as Buffalo cut several players in an effort to become cap compliant. A second-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2015 NFL Draft, Morse has started 126 games in his career. In 2023, he started all 17 games for the Bills and in 2022, he made the Pro Bowl while with the team.
Our Joe Clark speculated that Morse would be a good fit with Pittsburgh, noting his experience, leadership, and Tomlin attending his Missouri Pro Day nearly a decade ago.
It’s unclear what his asking price would be. But Pittsburgh is looking for experience and leadership for a young offense with a glaring hole at center, especially following Mason Cole’s release. Cole struggled mightily in his second year with the team last season, a poor pass protector with inconsistent snaps, and the Steelers haven’t found a long-term option at center since Maurkice Pouncey retired.
Signing Morse wouldn’t be a long-term fix but a bridge option that would take pressure off the team to address the position early in the draft. It’s a solid center class with Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier among the top two names while Duke’s Graham Barton, who mostly played left tackle in college, could move to center, where he played early in his Blue Devils career.
Because Morse was released by the Bills, he’s free to sign at any time and won’t have to wait until the start of the new league year Wednesday. He also would not count in the compensatory formula. Players released by teams aren’t factored into that.
In addition to meeting with Morse, the Steelers are also slated to hold a meeting with QB Russell Wilson as early as today as he weighs his options and future.
