Free agency is just a few weeks away, and by now, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ decision-makers should have a solid plan in place on how they’d like to attack the offseason. At a glance, the biggest needs on the roster are quarterback, defensive line, cornerback, and wide receiver. There are other wants and needs as well, but they have to address some or all of those positions prior to the 2025 NFL Draft so they aren’t pigeonholed into limited options later on.
One Steelers insider was asked to rank those needs entering free agency.
“WR is tops,” Dulac wrote via his Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers chat this week.
This shouldn’t be a big surprise, given the way things turned out during the months-long saga of trying to trade for Brandon Aiyuk ahead of the 2024 season. Once that trade fell through, the Steelers were left with no options, and their offseason moves added a bunch of WR3 or WR4 types to the roster, like Van Jefferson and Scotty Miller.
It was a disaster for the Steelers’ offense when George Pickens was dealing with an injury towards the end of the season. It will never be great when the top weapon is out of the lineup, but it is much easier to overcome with an actual WR2 in place.
You’ll get little argument from me that the Steelers need a WR in free agency. And even if they make a splash at the position, I still think one needs to be drafted fairly high. Pickens is entering the final year of his rookie deal, and it seems unlikely that he would be a long-term extension candidate, given some of the maturity issues.
At least the WR room has Roman Wilson returning from what was essentially a redshirt season. They also have Calvin Austin III, who is coming off a solid season with 548 yards and four TDs. It wasn’t a full breakout, but he had four games over 60 yards receiving. The arrow is still pointing up for his career.
The same cannot be said about the cornerback room. There is a solid argument to be made that corner is a larger free agency need than WR. Joey Porter Jr. is good to have, but what is the plan other than him? Donte Jackson is a free agent and dealt with too many nagging injuries, which aren’t isolated incidents in his career, to be comfortable with the same setup as 2024. That leaves Cory Trice Jr. as the next best option already on the roster.
He is another guy who has battled through injury after injury. In the two years since he was drafted, he’s only played in six regular-season games with the Steelers. According to Dulac, the Steelers remain highly intrigued by him.
“I will tell you they like Cory Trice,” Dulac wrote.
Trice had his first career interception last season before his hamstring injury, and then he had some solid performances once he returned late in the season. I thought he was one of the lone bright spots for the Steelers against the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day.
Some will point to him allowing almost 100 yards to Ja’Marr Chase and the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18, but that is a tough matchup for anybody, and he held up better than most would expect for a player playing in his sixth career game.
Trice was considered a draft steal in terms of his talent when the Steelers made him their seventh-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. But the reason he was drafted so low was his extensive injury history. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to escape that for a full season yet. Until he can, the Steelers must continue adding to the cornerback position to find a long-term solution next to Porter.
