The Pittsburgh Steelers have a number of key free agents, including QB Russell Wilson. While Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette isn’t sure what the Steelers are going to do with Wilson, he gave some insight into what the team might do with some of their other key free agents. On the DVE Morning Show, Dulac said OT Dan Moore Jr. is definitely gone as a free agent, while RB Najee Harris is likely going to leave, with the Steelers looking to bring back CB Donte Jackson.
“Dan Moore’s definitely gone. I can’t see them signing Najee [Harris] because you can’t put a tag on him because it costs too much money and I don’t see them committing any sort of longer-term deal to him. Donte Jackson, probably. But I think the other two, Dan Moore definitely, Najee more than likely.”
The team letting Moore leave shouldn’t come as any sort of surprise, as the Steelers have drafted offensive tackles in the first round each of the last two seasons. Despite his up-and-down play over the last four years, Moore will likely get a decent contract elsewhere to be a starting left tackle, and Pittsburgh will move forward with Troy Fautanu and Broderick Jones as their starting tackles (and get ready for another offseason of discourse over which one should play which side).
Harris was expected to be gone after the team failed to pick up his fifth-year option, and his 2024 season had some flashes but ultimately finished pretty similar to all of his seasons in Pittsburgh, with 1,043 yards but on just four yards per carry. He had just six carries for 17 yards against the Ravens in Pittsburgh’s playoff loss, and he lost some snaps to RB Jaylen Warren down the stretch. Pittsburgh will likely rely on Warren and probably a draft pick to anchor the backfield next year.
It is interesting that the team will look to bring back Jackson, who started fast but dealt with injuries down the stretch and struggled. While he had five interceptions on the season, Jackson got burnt in coverage in Week 17 against the Kansas City Chiefs and didn’t play well in Pittsburgh’s loss to Baltimore in the Wild Card Round. A nagging back injury could’ve been a factor, but unless the Steelers can bring Jackson back cheap or view him as a depth piece, re-signing him after how his season ended seems a little bit risky.
But Pittsburgh isn’t flush with cornerback depth either, so if he comes back cheap, it’s not a terrible move especially given how he started this season. The big question will once again be what the Steelers do at the quarterback position, but with key free agents at other spots, there could be a lot of roster turnover for the Steelers this offseason.
