While Dan Moore Jr. may lose his starting job for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it doesn’t sound like he’s going anywhere. At least that is what I took from remarks made by assistant general manager Andy Weidl on Thursday. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it—they did trade two linemen last year—but he sees value in depth.
“I think Omar [Khan] said that in the past, at some point, Broderick [Jones] will be the left tackle, but it’s good to have depth”, Weidl said, via the team’s website. “It’s good to have both those guys and Dan Moore. You can never have enough offensive line, … we’re just glad to have those guys”.
A 2021 fourth-round draft pick, Dan Moore Jr. has started every game of his career at left tackle. The Steelers didn’t plan to start him as a rookie, but injuries dictated otherwise. And they haven’t managed to dislodge him from the starting lineup since then.
Yet the Steelers have used first-round picks on tackles Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu in the past two cycles. You don’t draft tackles in the first round if you don’t plan on starting them, so Moore’s clock is ticking.
Now in his fourth season, Moore is in a contract year, so certainly doesn’t want to lose his starting job. Due to the Proven Performance Escalator, he will earn $3,366,000 this season, which is a tad high for a backup. That is why some have speculated about the Steelers trading him if he does not start.
After all, they did the same thing with Kevin Dotson last year, though only after finding satisfying depth. A former fourth-round start in his contract year with an elevated salary, the Steelers traded Dotson at the end of the offseason. Of course, he turned into one of the top guards in the league and the Rams paid him a bunch of money, but don’t expect Dan Moore Jr. to duplicate that feat.
“It’s going to work itself out. It’s a long season. You need all 53”, Andy Weidl said in discussing depth, at this point still on the top of Moore and the tackles. “The Super Bowl teams I’ve been privileged to be a part of, you needed all 53 and then some. So, your depth is going to be tested at some point, maybe early, middle of the season or later, and you have to have the guys that you know they can come in and play and handle it and overcome that adversity and step in”.
Last year, the Steelers had Moore and Chukwuma Okorafor starting at tackle, Jones the rookie backup. They also had Dylan Cook, who would have to serve as their swing tackle this year if they traded Moore. But there is some level of plausibility here just because of the abundance of depth.
Right now, Cook is probably on the outside looking in unless the Steelers trade somebody like Moore or Nate Herbig. Both players have higher salaries and are losing starting jobs sooner rather than later. And they have depth in players like Mason McCormick, Spencer Anderson, and Cook. Keep one of Moore or Herbig and you’re good to go, unless you want to expose Cook to waivers. The Steelers opted not to do so once already last year.
