Pittsburgh Steelers free agency talk is all the rage on social media, drawing rampant speculation from both fans and Steelers' insiders. Long-time fans of the Steelers know that traditionally they don’t make a big splash in free agency but it doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm that this could be the year things change. This is the first year of the Omar Khan and Andy Weidl partnership so it is possible the philosophy could change.
Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers Assistant GM Andy Weidl
Mark Kaboly covers the Steelers for the Athletic and he joined the PM Team W/Poni & Mueller on Friday to chime in on the upcoming free agent market. What was supposed to be a speculative segment with insight into how the organization might proceed turned into a pointed attack on the state of the black and gold.
“Bobby Wagner can make decent money somewhere else and is a lot closer to winning a championship than the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Kaboly told Andrew Fillipponi. “Historically, I would blow it off and say the Steelers don’t sign 30-year-old defensive players. But we can’t say that right now because of the new regime. I don’t know what Omar Khan and Andy Weidl are thinking right now.”
The Steelers organization seems to have embraced the never had a losing season under Mike Tomlin narrative and they are going on a seven-year drought without a playoff win. The Steelers seemed to have found a franchise quarterback in Kenny Pickett in the 2022 NFL Draft, and it opens a very specific Super Bowl window. Kaboly set fire to the notion that the flexibility that Pickett affords the team is a sign they are ready to contend or could attract a top free agent, even if they wanted to try.
“It’s all nice and good until you start throwing the facts in there,” Kaboly continued. “Why would Bobby Wagner want to come here?”
Saying the Steelers won’t pay a player that fits Bobby Wagner’s free agent profile is quite different from saying that he wouldn’t see Pittsburgh as a viable destination. The Steelers have only had nine losing seasons in the Super Bowl era and are in uncharted territory. They are becoming an afterthought in the modern NFL. If the media that follows the team closely can’t make even a speculative argument for the franchise, Art Rooney II should sit up and take notice.
Credit: NFL.com
Steelers Owner Art Rooney II
Andrew Fillipponi asked the veteran reporter if the Steelers were out on Wagner, how should they address the linebacker position for the 2023 season?
“That’s a tough one,” Kaboly responded. “Right now, you would have to say of course Myles Jack and I think they will bring back Spillane and hopefully work in Mark Robinson. Normally the draft doesn’t have a ton of inside linebackers. The guys you know are going to be good, there will be a handful of them every year, but I don’t know how much you want to waste draft capital on that.”
The Steelers have four picks in the top 80 during the 2023 NFL Draft and there are some very attractive rookie inside linebackers. Drew Sanders and Jack Campbell are likely to be available in the early rounds and could fill out a Steelers uniform quite nicely if the organization taps them on the second night of the draft. Kaboly broke down and gave a few options that could fit the middle of the Pittsburgh defense.
“If you are going to spend any money on free agency this year,” Kaboly concluded his thought. “There are about six of them out there that I wouldn’t mind taking a run at. You got guys like Lavonte David out there, potentially Tremaine Edmunds. I think his market value is around 10-11 a year for a 24-year-old that’s not bad. I don’t think they can go in with what they have, they have to add more than just a seventh-rounder.”
The Pittsburgh Steelers Free Agent Search Should Include These Key Players
Kaboly makes a solid point here. Tremaine Edmunds would likely command the largest free-agent contract that the Steelers have ever paid an outsider. The Baltimore Ravens reset the inside linebacker market when they elected to pay Roquan Smith $20 million per year and potentially cost themselves the ability to retain Patrick Queen. Getting a young proven player like Edmunds for half the price to anchor the Pittsburgh defense almost seems like a financial coup based on the Ravens’ investment.
Antonella Cresimbeni
Steelers Mike Tomlin and Bill Cowher
The Steelers have had two distinct periods of excellence in the Super Bowl era. The great dynasty of the 1970s and the Bill Cowher-Mike Tomlin early Ben Roethlisberger era. The down periods of the Super Bowl era until recently, involved ‘only’ winning division titles and losing in AFC Championship games. The Steelers have moved away from the championship standard of the organization in favor of an ever-adjusting measure of success to fit Tomlin’s coaching resume.
Steelers fans are proud and having Kaboly attack the organization as not being an attractive situation for a free agent that they are not likely to sign is as painful as an open wound. The outcry from the fan base should be loud and swift but might ultimately be muted by the haunting thought that he might be right.
What do you think Steeler Nation? Have the Steelers fallen into such mediocrity that top free agents ignore Pittsburgh as a destination? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
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