After George Pickens was traded on Wednesday morning, it feels like most of the major moves in the Steelers’ offseason have now come and gone. Pittsburgh’s roster will look dramatically different in 2025 than it did in 2024. While Pittsburgh is still waiting on Aaron Rodgers, we’ve got a good idea as to what the rest of the team is going to look like. With that in mind, many are starting to hand the Steelers some offseason grades.
The latest come from CBS Sports’ Mike Renner and Kyle Long. The two co-host the Pushing The Pile podcast, and Thursday, they handed out offseason grades to various teams, including the Steelers.
Renner gave the Steelers a C+ for what he sees as an underwhelming offseason.
“A lot of moving parts here,” Renner said. “But I think the core is still intact, for this Pittsburgh Steelers team. And I like their draft a little. I thought this was a defining offseason, in that you had to get over the hump. You had to improve. You were a comfortable Tier 2 behind the Baltimore Ravens last year; you were not competitive for a Super Bowl. I still don’t think you are. I think you’re taking a step back in this division, I think there’s a very good shot that either the Bengals or the Browns pass you up.”
Renner mentions that the core is still intact, but even that feels like a stretch. The Steelers completely turned over their quarterback room. They’ll likely have a new leading rusher in Kaleb Johnson, and got a new WR1 in DK Metcalf while moving on from Pickens. The offensive line and defense are mostly the same, so that core is intact. On the offensive side, though, every skill position has some new faces.
Renner does mention that he’s fond of their draft. That’s one area where most would agree the Steelers did a decent job. Pittsburgh filled its two biggest needs, the defensive line and running back, as early as it could have. The Steelers didn’t make any rash decisions and got good value with most of their selections.
Now, they might deserve some criticism for not drafting a receiver. It seemed that they expected to trade Pickens before the season began all along. Despite that, they failed to bring in any sort of help at that position through the draft. Now, Pittsburgh’s stuck heading into 2025 with an eerily similar weakness at the position as last season.
As for Long, his analysis was much shorter. He gave the Steelers a C and brought the conversation back to the uncertainty over Aaron Rodgers.
“It’s no place you want to be as a football team, when you don’t know who your leader is,” Long said.
Long isn’t wrong here. It’s May, and the Steelers don’t have a firm idea as to who will be under center Week 1. With that said, Rodgers hasn’t really missed any meaningful activities. Organized Team Activities (OTAs) don’t start until May 27. If he hasn’t signed by then, it’s a problem. For now, Rodgers hasn’t missed anything major.
It’s hard to fault these two for being unenthused regarding their Steelers offseason grades. They made some nice additions, but don’t seem to be any closer to winning a Super Bowl. Maybe they finally snap their playoff losing streak. Aside from that, it’s hard to be any more excited about their ceiling in 2025.
