Pittsburgh Steelers Announce They've Now Released Center Mason Cole

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced Friday afternoon that they have released center Mason Cole, via their X page. This officially means the team can begin the process of looking for a new center either via free agency and/or the 2024 NFL Draft.

The move is one fans have been anxiously awaiting since the end of the 2023 season. The Steelers, along with the rest of the NFL, found out that the 2024 NFL Salary Cap will be $255.4 million. The unprecedented amount is $30 million more than 2023 per Ian Rapoport. The release of Cole frees up another $4.75 million in dead cap money. 

Cole joined the Steelers in 2022 after spending time with both the Minnesota Vikings and the Arizona Cardinals. He initially appeared to be a solid acquisition and started all 17 games in both seasons, but floundered considerably in 2023. Cole struggled with snapping the ball and blocking. You frequently heard analysts refer to him as a "turnstile" and defenses were taking advantage of the gaping hole putting any Steelers quarterback in danger. 

He is the latest in a string of players released so far this offseason, including quarterback Mitch Trubisky, punter Pressley Harvin, and offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor. 

General Manager Omar Khan will have to work some of his magic and find a center that can help protect whoever wins the quarterback battle in Pittsburgh. Two centers in the draft that are getting attention and could be available to Pittsburgh, are West Virginia University's Zach Frazier, and University of Oregon's Jackson Powers-Johnson. The free agency market for centers will also be a possibility if the Steelers can find someone who fits their offense, can accurately snap the ball, and won't cost an arm and a leg. 

Steelers' Mason Cole Just Didn't Own His Mistakes

The Steelers had a rocky season in 2023. Expectations were at an all-time high coming off a stellar preseason, and then they crashed and burned. There was enough blame to go around for the losses the team had, particularly on offense. They couldn't seem to move the ball down the field and score consistently. It was hard to put much blame on a defense that barely made it to the sidelines before they had to return to the field. 

After the Steelers were the first team to lose two in a row to two 10-loss teams, former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger ripped Cole apart on his podcast. He said that just because Cole was a veteran when he joined the team, doesn't mean that he would understand the "Steeler Way."

Not only was Cole failing to provide leadership on a very young offense, he also struggled with the mechanics of his job. Fans held their breath every snap to see if it would go straight, roll on the ground, wobble, or miss the quarterback completely. It was hard to place all blame on Kenny Pickett when the ball wasn't being delivered properly. 

Everyone who is a Steelers fan has heard the stories about how Head Coach Mike Tomlin plays videos of mistakes that are made in front of everyone. The purpose isn't to humiliate someone, but rather to figure out how to fix what went wrong as a team. Cole was likely one of the most-watched players, and that isn't a good thing. 

Despite all of the talk about his mishandling of the football, he didn't seem to take any responsibility. When the Steelers lost to the 2-10 Arizona Cardinals, the whole offense looked "off," but none more so than Cole. He botched multiple snaps, one of which caused the Steelers to fail to pick up a third and short they should have gotten. He also snapped the ball so low that Pickett had to scramble to pull it in and this gave the defense time to come up and sack him. After the game was over, Cole was asked by 93.7 The Fan about the bad snaps and he failed to take any responsibility. 

"Today felt like a weird day across the board. We weren't good enough. We were good all week, we had a good week of practice, prep was good. We felt like we had a really good game plan, just didn't execute it. Just wasn't our day, no excuse for that. We're gonna have to wipe the slate clean and get a win in four days," said a seemingly unconcerned Cole.

Cole was certainly speaking a lot of French in that statement with all his "we we we" talk for someone who clearly had mistakes to account for. We saw other players step up and take responsibility who played nearly perfect games. Roethlisberger was right; a player who fails to take responsibility is not doing things the "Steelers Way."

How are you feeling about Cole being released? Can you see any reason the team should have kept him? Who do you think are their best options for center for 2024? Click to comment below.

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