The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2024 season took a nose-dive in early December, and they were unable to recover. A 10-3 record and first-place position in the AFC North turned into a 10-7 mark and an embarrassing dismantling in the playoffs by the division rival Baltimore Ravens.
Head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan hoped to end the Steelers’ infamous seven-year playoff win drought and ideally find their starting quarterback for the next few years by the end of this season. They didn’t accomplish either of those goals.
Instead, Pittsburgh enters the offseason with far more questions than answers, and a fan base that is stewing in frustration and about ready to explode if drastic changes aren’t made.
CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso compiled a ranking of all six Wild Card-round losing teams in terms of future outlook. He based it on three categories: quarterback situation, financial situation, and skill-position talent (prioritizing youth). He ranked the Steelers dead last.
“[The Steelers] have close to $53 million in cap space for next season, yet their skill-position talent is the least dynamic of this group,” Trapasso wrote. “George Pickens is a premier talent at receiver yet battled through inconsistencies and visible frustration throughout his third season in Pittsburgh. Can we get excited about any other receiver? I can’t. The firepower in Pittsburgh is hardly there. To make matters worse, the offensive line is in as bad a shape as it’s been in a long time. Rookie center Zach Frazier was the lone standout in 2024. All of this together — most namely the stuck-in-no-man’s-land quarterback scenario — is why the Steelers came in last in these rankings. And what do they do with Mike Tomlin?”
It’s hard to argue with Trapasso’s placement of the Steelers as sixth out of the six Wild Card losers. You could make a case that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have it worse because of their financial situation, but their quarterback Baker Mayfield is coming off a career season and they have talented young players at key skill positions.
It’s widely known that the Steelers have the most expensive defense in the NFL, and their best and most expensive defenders are only getting older. On top of that, they’ll have to pay either Russell Wilson or Justin Fields, unless they decide to start over with a different free agent quarterback or find someone in the draft.
Meanwhile, both running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren are free agents — the latter is a restricted free agent — so the Steelers have a tough decision to make in terms of paying a running back (it’s likely they’ll have to draft one too). And just like the frustrated Steelers fans, George Pickens is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. The Steelers will have to decide soon if he’s their No. 1 receiver going forward, or if they want to let Pickens and his antics walk out the door.
These points aside, I think Trapasso missed the mark on the Steelers’ offensive line. Yes, rookie center Zach Frazier was the standout lineman on a below average offensive line, but rookie guard Mason McCormick had a good season and looks poised for a long career in Pittsburgh. Additionally, first-round offensive tackle Troy Fautanu missed the entire season. If he’s back and healthy, the Steelers should have three cheap, talented young linemen. We’ll need to see better results on the field next season, but it’s something to build on offensively.
As to Mike Tomlin, it seems like the Steelers will be bringing him back. That will be the talk of the offseason, and unless drastic improvements are made, “The Standard” will be nothing more than average.
