It was a very busy Pittsburgh Steelers offseason, one that featured a great deal of change on the roster and the coaching staff.
Some big names like Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Darius Slay, Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith joined the fold. Familiar faces like Najee Harris, George Pickens, Elandon Roberts, Larry Ogunjobi and, shockingly, Minkah Fitzpatrick exited.
The Steelers believe they’re a better team now and have answers across the board at key positions. They’re also much older now.
For ESPN’s Seth Walder, he gave the Steelers’ offseason a ‘C’ grade. Some moves were questionable to Walder, while others made sense. But getting older and trying to compete for a Super Bowl despite not winning a playoff game in nearly a decade has the analyst puzzled.
“Pittsburgh’s entire offseason has resulted in an old team trying to take one last swing,” Walder writes in his piece for ESPN.com grading every team’s offseason. “It probably won’t work, and next year will be time for a true rebuild. If so, one piece of good news: the Steelers’ offseason resulted in projected compensatory picks in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth rounds, per OverTheCap.com.”
The Steelers did get older this offseason. There’s no denying that. Rodgers is 41 years old and will turn 42 in December. Slay is 34 years old. Ramsey is 31 years old. Even wide receiver Robert Woods, signed after the draft, is 33 years old.
That shift in philosophy could be because the Steelers were growing impatient with trying to develop young players. So, they went and got proven ones this offseason to try and plug key holes.
Will it work out? That remains to be seen, but the Steelers are seemingly better on paper than they were last season.
For Walder though, the moves to add veterans probably won’t work out for the Black and Gold. After all, Father Time is undefeated. So if it doesn’t work out for the Steelers in 2025 and they can’t get over the hump in the playoffs, they’ll have to pull the plug and rebuild.
Fortunately for the franchise, GM Omar Khan threaded the needle this offseason. He played the compensatory picks game, racking up a handful of projected picks through free agency moves, while also making some shrewd trades to add 2026 draft picks. As things stand, Pittsburgh could have as many as 12 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, which just so happens to be in Pittsburgh and is a loaded QB class.
So, the Steelers’ avenue to finding their franchise quarterback could be clearly laid out in front of them. That’s in the future though. All eyes are on the 2025 season to see if the Steelers can compete with an older roster after a splashy offseason.
There’s quite a bit of doubt, but there’s no denying the Steelers added some high-end talent, even if those players are on the back end of their careers.
