In recent years, the Steelers have displayed a willingness to part with talent, something former QB Ben Roethlisberger is unaccustomed to. Sure, he has seen the team go through some lean years that prompted some tough decisions, but this is different. Under GM Omar Khan, they are making moves purely based on talent and personality, rather than cap compliance.
This year, the Steelers have parted ways with some major pieces that helped define their most recent rosters. In free agency, they let RB Najee Harris walk. They later traded WR George Pickens, then sent S Minkah Fitzpatrick off, as well. And let’s not forget Dan Moore Jr., Elandon Roberts, James Daniels, and others.
“It feels like you’re losing a lot of the Steelers cultural guys that are in there, that know what it is, and you’re bringing in guys that are one-year guys in here, maybe two-year guys”, Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast. “They know about the Steelers logo, but they don’t really know it. It’s not branded in their chest; It’s not Yellowstone in their chest”.
Of course, whether a draft pick, free agent, or trade acquisition, everybody has to learn the Steelers’ culture first-hand. And to their credit, they have turned guys like Roberts and DeShon Elliott into Steelers-culture guys. Both expressed a desire to play the rest of their careers here—but then they let Roberts walk.
This is a repeating pattern of the Steelers letting important pieces go, though. The year before, they parted with Kenny Pickett, Diontae Johnson, Chukwuma Okorafor, and others. One can see it as a loosening of a sense of loyalty. Alternatively, one can argue this is a part of clearing out the locker room for the sake of the culture. Still, in that locker room, that might not be how they see it.
“I haven’t been in the locker room for a few years now, so I don’t know how things have culturally changed in that locker room in terms of, what’s the locker room thinking right now?”, Roethlisberger admitted after a long Steelers career.
“When you’re losing a leader like Minkah [Fitzpatrick], a guy that is just a worker, doesn’t talk a lot, but works”, he added. “When I was there, if this would’ve happened, there would be some upset dudes in that locker room. I’d assume it’s still the same way”.
Steelers captain Cameron Heyward admitted that it sucks to lose Fitzpatrick. But you can’t gain players like Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith without giving up something for them. And perhaps Ramsey and Smith will embrace the Steelers’ culture and help to further it. And it’s not like they don’t have young Steelers developing in the pipeline.
The reality is Minkah Fitzpatrick would still be the Steelers’ starting safety if his play didn’t slip. They had too much money on the books for him to produce as he had the past two years. And when the opportunity presented itself to add Jalen Ramsey, they pulled the trigger. It may be a simple as that. For now, anything else beyond that is just idle speculation.
