In the span of seven days, the Pittsburgh Steelers completely revamped their quarterback room. While that grabbed all the headlines (and understandably so), the Steelers also added a playmaking off-ball linebacker and a starter at strong safety in free agency. It was a very busy and productive week for the organization.
On Monday’s episode of First Take on ESPN, Stephen A Smith offered his thoughts on the Steelers’ moves and it was all positive. He started off praising the addition of LB Patrick Queen before diving into the quarterback moves.
“All you needed was a quarterback, somebody with a damn pulse behind center that the opposing defenses knew could be somewhat of a damn threat,” Smith said on First Take to Shannon Sharpe. “That’s what they got. I would’ve been happy if they got one of them. Never in my wildest dream, Shannon, did I believe they’d get both, two quarterbacks that started at least 11 games last year…All of a sudden, the quarterback room is different. Now you’ve got potential at that spot, and all you paid for was $1.2 million and a sixth-round pick that at worst case scenario transitions to a fourth-round pick if Justin Fields takes 51 percent of the snaps. I’d say that’s a huge win. And I think the Pittsburgh Steelers have had a better free agency thus far than anybody.”
Everybody knew the Steelers had a quarterback problem going into the offseason. They only had one quarterback under contract for 2024 and that was Kenny Pickett. The absolute minimum the Steelers had to do was add competition for Pickett. Well, in the span of a week, they did a lot more than that. They came to an agreement with Russell Wilson, traded Pickett to the Philadelphia Eagles less than three hours after introducing Wilson, and then capped it all off by trading with the Bears for Fields.
No one expected all of that to happen, much less than in that short of a time span. Oh yeah, and in the middle of that quarterback chaos, general manager Omar Khan also signed Queen, former Miami Dolphins S DeShon Elliott, and former Houston Texans P Cameron Johnston. Khan and the Steelers addressed some of the biggest needs of the team within the first week of free agency, and that resonated with Smith.
Has it been the perfect start to free agency? No, there are still major needs that have to be addressed. The biggest ones are at center and wide receiver, and the Steelers are reportedly hosting former Los Angeles Chargers WR Mike Williams for a visit this week. Yet despite the needs that are still there, Smith believes strongly that what Khan and the Steelers have done is better than any other team in the league.
