The NFL off-season is well underway. Aaron Rodgers will return to the Green Bay Packers, Russell Wilson will join the Denver Broncos, and Carson Wentz will play for the Washington Commanders. Bobby Wagner, a long-time Seattle Seahawk, was just released as well. As you can see, the NFL has had a busy couple of days, and we haven't even gotten to free agency yet. This brings us to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This is arguably the biggest off-season in recent memory for the Steelers. With so many holes on the roster, including the quarterback position, and over $30 million in cap space, this off-season will determine if the Steelers are contenders or not. With that being said, one question is on every Steelers fan’s mind: How aggressive will the Steelers be this off-season?
I went back to previous off-seasons (up through 2014) to get a sense of how much the Steelers spent in free agency to answer this question. Spoiler, it’s not much. They were most aggressive in 2019. They signed CB Steven Nelson signed a three-year $27.5 million deal, S Mark Barron to a two-year $12 million deal, and WR Donte Moncrief to a two-year $9 million deal. That may not seem like much, but for us Steeler fans, that’s like spending $100 million. There’s also the 2018 off-season when they gave S Morgan Burnett a three-year $14.5 million deal. We can also include the Joe Haden deal, even though that was a week before the season. Other than that, there’s the horrific four-year $20 million deal they gave to TE Ladarius Green and then the cream of the crop, a five-year $25 million dollar deal for S Mike Mitchell. As you can see, the Steelers don’t really spend much. Even when they do spend, it does not work well. Most of the players mentioned above did not even play through their respected contracts. Definitely not a good sign.
Now I understand that you can’t really compare other years to this year due to the difference in cap space available. To be fair, the Steelers have proved in the past that they are ready to spend the majority of their cap room on a player they desire. In 2017, Pittsburgh was reportedly in the running for Dont’a Hightower and close to signing him before he had a change of heart and returned to New England. Burnett and Nelson were amongst the top guys in their respective free agent classes and Pittsburgh was aggressive in their approach and brought them in.
In my opinion, I think Kevin Colbert and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be aggressive this off-season. They have been linked with some big names in free agency and rightfully so given the boatload of cap space they have this year. Now history may not back this up, heck even Colbert’s recent remarks at the NFL Combine may hint towards a conservative approach in free agency. However, the Steelers never had this much cap space and with this being potentially Colbert’s last off-season as the GM, he may want to leave with a bang.
Do you believe the Steelers will be aggressive in free agency this year, or will they be like they have been in the past? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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