Steelers Free Agent Analysis: Van Jefferson
Position: Wide Receiver
Experience: 5 Years (1 with Steelers)
Free Agent Status: Unrestricted
2024 Salary Cap Hit: $1,152,500
2024 Season Breakdown:
The Pittsburgh Steelers got what they paid for in WR Van Jefferson last year—which wasn’t much. Signed to a Veteran Salary Benefit deal with a small signing bonus, he delivered the expected production. The thing is, while he didn’t produce much, he played a lot. That’s at least as much an indictment of the Steelers’ roster-building as it is the player.
A former second-round pick, Van Jefferson is the Steelers’ favorite kind of player. He is a guy with pedigree and is also a coach’s son with football in his blood. It’s no surprise that he ended up in Pittsburgh, but it’s not like he revived his career.
Van Jefferson logged 721 snaps for the Steelers, starting 12 out of 17 games. Yet he drew just 40 targets and caught only 24 of them for 276 yards. He did manage to catch two touchdown passes, one of them against the team for whom his father, former NFL WR Shawn Jefferson, coaches.
That was a cool moment, but the Steelers have too many players who have “cool moments”. Jefferson essentially functioned as their No. 2 WR, and he didn’t even produce 300 yards on over 700 snaps. Even if you factor in the snaps he played leaning toward run plays, this is just not acceptable production.
Free Agency Outlook:
The Steelers can re-sign Van Jefferson if they want but with no promises made. He really doesn’t even need another signing bonus, even if it is a token amount on a Veteran Salary Benefit deal. The Steelers clearly articulated an awareness of the screaming need that they have at wide receiver.
The problem is that the Steelers have had far too many wide receivers like Jefferson lately playing roles much larger than they ought to. Whether it was Allen Robinson II or Donte Moncrief or Ryan Switzer or Gunner Olszewski or Steven Sims, they have had enough of snap collectors who are not producing.
The Steelers have a long list of free agents this year, but not absolutely can’t-lose names. While it includes significant players like Najee Harris and Dan Moore Jr., they are not the team’s priority. The biggest question is the quarterback position, working to choose between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. There are some choice role players, but they wouldn’t fall apart if they lost the entire lot—minus a quarterback.
