Will the Steelers sign anybody to a contract extension before the start of training camp?
The Pittsburgh Steelers will soon head down to Latrobe for training camp, but before they do, they may want to finish some business. They have several players in the final year of their deal, and surely some they would prefer to lock up.
As with nearly everything in life, though, it comes down to money. I’m sure they would like to keep Najee Harris around for years, but at what price? They know Pat Freiermuth is a good player, but are they ready to pay him top-10 money?
We don’t have much to work with, but Omar Khan has preferred to get big business done before camp. As Alex Kozora pointed out recently, the Steelers finished deals with Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2022 and with Alex Highsmith in 2023 before breaking for camp.
But the clock is ticking at this point, because the Steelers open training camp in a week’s time. There is no deadline to finish deals by then, but for a team that refuses to negotiate in-season, it seems prudent to wrap things up as soon as possible.
My sense is that we shouldn’t anticipate any deals in the next week. For players like Harris and Freiermuth, it seems they want to see them in the new offense. You can say the same about QB Justin Fields, at least when determining a price point.
The only deal I can really see as a possibility is with Cameron Heyward, but that’s only if they have any intention of even doing one. I don’t know that the Steelers plan to extend him, period, but if they do, there’s no need to wait.
The Steelers’ 2024 season is approaching, following another disappointing year that culminated in a playoff loss. The only change-up in the annual formula lately is whether they miss the playoffs altogether. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January.
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? How will the team continue to address the depth chart?
The Steelers are past free agency and the draft and their roster for the 2024 season is coming into focus. They made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
