Buy Or Sell: The Steelers should consider re-signing Dan Moore Jr.
Explanation: Though he hit a rough patch down the stretch, Steelers OT Dan Moore Jr. had his best year in 2024. With his rookie contract expiring, he is due to be a free agent and should have some suitors. The Steelers have used their past two first-round picks on tackles, but both have question marks in various ways.
Buy:
Dan Moore Jr. might end up being the best available veteran tackle at his price range. A solid veteran who has a lot of experience yet is still pretty young, he could be tempting for teams. How many 26-year-old left tackles with 66 career starts ever hit the open market? Yet the Steelers are likely to allow him to do so, even if they shouldn’t.
Here’s the thing: is Broderick Jones any better than Dan Moore? Sure, he’s more talented, but he isn’t as professional or consistent. And then there’s Troy Fautanu, last year’s rookie, who has barely played. He is coming off a knee injury, and frankly, it’s not like he didn’t have issues in pass protection.
Obviously, all of this depends on price. If some team wants to pay Moore $15 million per season, that’s not going to be realistic for Pittsburgh. But the Steelers need to realize that their tackle situation is not settled. If Moore is at all affordable, they have to strongly consider retaining him. They could even kick Fautanu to guard. It’s not like Isaac Seumalo is getting younger, and Mason McCormick is unproven.
Sell:
With his experience and at his age, Dan Moore Jr. is going to earn enough to price him out of the Steelers’ consideration. That’s pretty straightforward, and I don’t think there’s much question about it. The Browns paid up for Chris Hubbard years ago, so someone will pay Moore.
While the Steelers have to find out what they have in Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu, that’s somewhat the point. They have to find out, and they won’t find out while Moore is here. He is the Max Starks of this line, the guy they keep trying to replace but failing to do so. Well, it’s time that they move on and let the resources they’ve invested reveal themselves. Jones is at least an acceptable NFL starter, even if not without flaws. And Fautanu is about as experienced a player can be coming out of college.
With the Steelers’ 2024 season in the rearview mirror following a disappointing year that came up short in the playoffs once again, it’s time to start asking more questions. Questions about the team’s future in 2025 and beyond. Questions about The Standard.
The rookie class of a year ago was on the whole impressive, but they need to step up into staple starters in 2025, and they need everyone healthy to do it. They needed a strong influx of talent in both free agency and in the 2024 NFL draft yet again. In addition to a revisitation of the coaching staff.
These sorts of uncertainties are what I will look to address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, I will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
