The NFL’s legal tampering period begins on Monday, March 14th at 12:00PM EST. This is when agents and teams can engage in contract negotiations for pending free agents. With the Pittsburgh Steelers in an unusual spot, having roughly $27 million dollars in cap space, many expect the Steelers to be uncharacteristically big spenders this year.
Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest contracts the Steelers have given out in recent history.
1) Steven Nelson, CB, 3-year/$25.5M
Pittsburgh Steelers
The biggest contract ever given out by the Steelers played out well for them for two seasons. Nelson paired with Joe Haden on the opposite side and Minkah Fitzpatrick on the back end, helped create one of the best pass defenses in the NFL for two straight seasons. Unfortunately during the 2021 offseason, Nelson was let go by the Steelers and later signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tied 2) Mark Barron, LB, 2-year/$12M
AP
Barron was supposed to be the veteran player to help usher in the Devin Bush era in Pittsburgh and his time was rather lackluster. He was unable to play up to the standard as he once was. Often looking out of place, the Steelers released him after one season.
Tied 2) Eric Ebron, TE, 2-year/$12M
Getty Images
The hope was Ben Roethlisberger would be able to help Ebron reach his 2018 output of 13 touchdowns. Instead, Ebron’s time was up and down showing glimpses of greatness, but also the dropped passes that plagued him in Indianapolis. In 2021, Ebron found little playing time behind newly drafted Pat Freiermuth and ended up on injured reserve due to a knee injury. There is no indication the Steelers will bring him back.
4) Derek Watt, FB, 3-year/$9.75M
Beacon Journal
Rather than a fullback, Watt has been tasked with being the Steelers special teams ace. He has fulfilled that role up until this point but we will see if the offense changes any now that Roethlisberger is retired.
5) Donte Moncrief, WR, 2-year/$9M
Post-Gazette
In two starts, Moncrief was benched. 8 weeks into the season, his time with the Steelers was already over. In his first game, he had 3 catches on 10 targets but 3 drops. In Week 2, his first target was dropped and he was yanked from the game. This may be one of the worst signings under the Mike Tomlin/Kevin Colbert era.
What do you think, #SteelerNation? Will the Steelers follow their typical pattern of signing mid-level value free agents, or will they be big spenders for a change? Drop a comment below!
