After Ryan Shazier suffered a career-ending injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers were left with a void at inside linebacker. Shazier’s injury came out of nowhere, and the Steelers were left scrambling. Today, they’ve found quality pieces at that position, but they had to cycle through a lot of guys during the time in between.
Robert Spillane was one of the players who the Steelers gave a chance. Spillane created an NFL career for himself with the Steelers, but he left Pittsburgh after the 2022 season. Recently, he provided details on that split.
“Before I went into free agency, they told me, ‘Go out, test the market, see what you get. We’re gonna offer whatever they give you. We wanna make you a Steeler. We love you,'” Spillane said recently on the Bussin’ with the Boys podcast. “I call them, ‘I got an offer from the Raiders. I want to come back, what’s the deal?’ They were like, ‘Good luck, have fun.'”
Spillane was with the Steelers from 2019-22. In that time, he grew from a special teams player into a starter. He made the most of his opportunities, most notably stopping Derrick Henry on the goal line in a violent collision.
Spillane’s physicality seemingly made him a good fit for the Steelers, but the union didn’t last. After 2022, he signed a two-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. However, as he revealed, Spillane wanted to stay with the Steelers. It was the team that opted to let him leave.
During that same podcast, Spillane revealed that he still feels some pain about the Steelers not wanting him back.
“They didn’t. It hurts to say that. It hurts to feel like that because you felt like you made all these great connections,” he said. “You felt like you poured your heart on the line. You felt like you did everything to be a good team player. But at the end of the day, this is a business. They don’t always want you back.”
Spillane is correct. In the NFL, job security is not promised. Even legends find themselves struggling to stick with one team. While Spillane was a fine player, the Steelers chose not to give him the same offer that the Raiders did.
Instead, the Steelers overhauled their inside linebacker room. That same offseason, they signed Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts and Kwon Alexander. While Spillane continued to succeed with the Raiders, those players started off well with the Steelers. It looked like they solved that position.
Unfortunately, Holcomb and Alexander suffered major injuries during the 2023 season. Roberts put together two nice seasons with the Steelers, but he left them this offseason. Now, Holcomb is working back from an injury, while Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson are the Steelers’ starting middle linebackers.
While he’s disappointed that the Steelers didn’t keep him, Spillane has blossomed outside of Pittsburgh. He started every game during his two years with the Raiders. That led to him signing a big contract with the New England Patriots this offseason. It means that the Steelers will face Spillane in Week 3 this year. He’ll have another opportunity to show them why they made a mistake letting him go.
