Pittsburgh Steelers Exit Meeting: OLB Jeremiah Moon
Experience: 2 Years
Jeremiah Moon functioned as the Steelers’ fourth edge rusher for most of last season, for as little as that means. They employed a three-man rush, when healthy, that they really liked, leaving Moon as an afterthought. With T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig feasting, his responsibilities tended to lay elsewhere.
That’s why he played 222 snaps on special teams versus only 111 on defense—exactly symmetrically half. Signed off waivers in the offseason from the Ravens, Jeremiah Moon spent the whole season with the Steelers. He played in 13 games, starting one, when they had a series of injuries at outside linebacker.
Jeremiah Moon spent the first month of the season on IR, but the Steelers activated him out of necessity. Of his 111 defensive snaps, 73 came in his first two games. He finished the season with nine total tackles, some of which he accumulated on special teams.
One can’t help but wonder if the Steelers were attracted to Jeremiah Moon because of the damage he did against them. During the 2023 season with the Ravens, he forced a fumble in each game, first separating Gunner Olszewski from the football and then Jaylen Warren. Those are the only fumbles he has forced in his career up to now. But he did block a punt last year, which was pretty significant.
In fact, Moon’s blocked punt is kind of what started the surge of attention paid nationally to the Steelers’ special teams and to special teams coordinator Danny Smith. At that point of the season, they seemed to be delivering a splash play on a weekly basis. Whether it was a blocked kick, a big return, or a turnover, they were delivering. And it was because of guys like Jeremiah Moon buying into the special teams culture the Steelers built.
And of course, that will be his ticket back to the ‘Burgh if indeed he remains with the team in 2025. The Steelers won’t re-sign him merely to serve as depth at outside linebacker. But he did play nearly two-thirds of their special teams snaps, so he is effectively a “starter” there.
As an exclusive rights free agent, bringing him back is simple enough, and they have nothing to lose. If Moon doesn’t make the 53-man roster, the Steelers lose out on nothing. It’s worth noting that they did feel the need to try to upgrade there in-season, trading for Preston Smith. But it’s also worth noting that they didn’t cut Moon to make room for him. And now Smith is gone due to his cap hit, while Moon remains.
And just a quick note on Preston Smith: because free agency is fast approaching and the team already released him, I’ll be skipping his exit meeting. Frankly, I began this series too late and it’s going to drag into the new league year. I’ve still got almost another two weeks of names to cover from Payton Wilson to Cameron Johnston, and there are no other names I might leave off just because they’re already gone.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves at home, the inevitable result of another early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, with no clear end in sight. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we will go down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
