One last chance then FULL rebuild (Trade Watt)

Strange off-season… But these moves scream one last chance with Cam and TJ.

Take AR12 over Rudolph all day. Metcalf is a beast. But we need one more WR and RB imo. We need to land Keenan Allen or Gabe Davis.

Defense could be Top 3. We finally have multiple legit corners but huge ? with the safeties. We just need them to be average and not get beat over the top. Try to make it work until trade deadline then get somebody legit on non playoff team because the market is meh.

Gone next year for sure… Rodgers, Cam, and Slay. Then possibly Ramsey, Queen, and Freiermuth.

What’s the point in paying Watt 40m a year when we don’t have a QB? Hopefully we aren’t going to be bad enough for a Top 3 pick. So…

We just need him to ball out one more year and hopefully 1) Win Super Bowl or 2) Get a Khalil Mack type of return. It’s the only way to fix this mess.


GMDot

 

Unless he has a horrific season or injury, I don't see Heyward going anywhere. Ramsey, Queen, and Freiermuth will likely be back as well.

This organization has never done "rebuild". So unless Watt is asking for something egregious - or they have a huge boost of confidence in Herbig/Sawyer - I expect he'll be back.

 

It’s pointless to pay top money for Watt with no QB and we need the draft capital only he could fetch.

Cam surprised me last year but Father Time isn’t on his side. If this isn’t the year I think they let him go chase a ring with a contender.

Those other guys could possibly be moved for more draft capital.

This has been a very non Steelers way off season. I think Khan gets it, one last chance with core then time to rebuild. But we will see…

 

If this isn’t the year for what? Winning a playoff game? No way anybody with an ounce of common sense thinks 42 year old Rodgers is winning a freaking SB.

 

i don't think it will be a total rebuild.

O-Line is young but by next year should be quite experienced.

RB shouldn't need rebuilt by next year.

WR. this spot should be pretty decent by next year.

QB we have one guy in the pipeline and a decently young backup.

TE. should be fine.

D-Line. they will keep adding but not too bad right now.

LB. peyton wilson, roberts, harrison, queen, holcomb. pretty nice group.

OLB sawyer, herbig, moon, highsmith. not too bad.

DB pierre, kent, trice, porter, elliott, castro, bishop, echols, ramsey. could probably add to this group but the cupboard isn't bare.

it's not all about just TJ and a QB. QB may not be as big of deal as many think. we will see. many spots are going to be given experience with some vet leadership this year. how they respond will determine a lot after this year. might not be as bad as many think.

 

don't need a RB - NEED AN OL and offensive SCHEME that can be top 15.

not sure we have it.

 

definitely need a good offensive SCHEME

 

Same for the defense.....This is outdated at this point

 

A 40 year old Tom Brady did it with Tampa Bay .

 

They don't need another RB they signed Gainwell in free agency and drafted a RB, Muth isn't going anywhere Jonnu might only be here for this season.

 

This is SDOT Thor.

Trust me. He isn't even in Mid Season form yet. Give him some time and you'll see what I mean.

 

This team doesn't need a rebuild, it has plenty of young talent already. The biggest need is at QB. No team sport is any more single position dependent than football is with the QB position. One could argue every team is in a rebuilding phase until they land a franchise QB. You don't necessarily need an elite Mahomes/Allen talent, but you do need a reliable, solid QB who can hang with those guys.

 

I mean, we definitely made moves to be competitive in the short term without making taking any true long term risks. Ramsey is the closest thing to that with his term at 30, but the risk is minimal.

Agree on Rodgers. Agree on the WR situation, but I do like that a couple of young guys are going to get the opportunity to step up. We might not need one after all if Austin or Wilson (or both) step up in a meaningful way. We can band aid it if we don't think either are up to snuff (Davis, Allen, and Cooper all still available), but I'd prefer to just let Austin and Wilson have a shot with the rest of our weapon room looking solid. Disagree on the RB situation. Warren is a highly competent back and is starting quality, but a proven high end 3rd down back/RB2. We just took Johnson this year in the draft, so it appears our RB room is quite set (and quite talented imo).

It definitely could be. I disagree about the ? with safety though. Elliott has proven that he is a very solid player for us, and a vocal leader. Thornhill has been a starting quality safety in the league for his whole career. I don't view him as a high end option by any means, but he should be fine to do what he is going to be tasked to do. Our unit isn't particularly deep, but we have other DB's that will play the 3rd S role so as long as the top 2 stay healthy we should be more than fine on the back end. Love having a legitimate CB room for a change.

Teams turn over talent every year. We will add in FA and the draft to replenish. Too difficult to speculate past this season outside of the obvious QB situation.

Well, the argument is that we aren't paying a QB, so we can afford Watt. However, I can totally understand the hesitancy to give Watt a massive deal with term. I wouldn't hate us playing him this year and franchise tagging him next. At his age he has nearly zero leverage to hold out, as it would likely end his career and add a major question mark on a player at 32 looking for a huge deal coming off a year off. Realistically, a 3 year 120 million dollar contract is beneficial for both sides. If Watt wants 4 years, the yearly average needs to come down significantly in the final year. I'd be fine with 4 years if the total contract is around 130-135million. Can't have a 34-35 year old pass rusher on a 40+ million dollar deal. Give him his 40+ million and front load it a bit, then buy that 4th year at like 10-15 million (which would be a fair one year price at 34 years old). Idk. I'm sure the dispute isn't about the yearly cap it, and is more term based....

We're not going to get Mack value for TJ in a trade (well the Raiders to Bears trade). I think its a fair comp player wise, but a team is going to have to be willing to pay it and then turn around and give TJ that big deal with term. It isn't impossible (there might be a team desperate enough to do it), but essentially trading TJ, a second, and a seventh - for two firsts a sixth and a third - is a pipe dream. If you're talking about the trade that sent him from the Bears to the Chargers, then I could see that being the return. A second and a sixth... I'm not making that trade if I am the Steelers. How many teams will give a second and a sixth for the right to pay TJ 40+ million over the next 5 years? Not sure there are many suitors.... This whole thing is a tough situation. Going to be really important to make a good call on it.

 

there will not be a rebuild with Tomlin, just a reshuffling. they will work with serviceable vets until he is gone.

let Tomlin move on, let a new coach and STAFF work with Khan and Weidl and truly rebuild - but that won't be until 2027 or later.

 

The Bucs were stacked with talent the year prior with Winston at QB. Bucs were loaded when Brady arrived.... RB, WRs, top 5 OL, Gronk, top 5 defense, etc. Steelers of '25 are nowhere near as loaded as the 2020 Bucs. Not even close.

 

And old Brady is much better that old Rodgers....The last good season of Rodgers was 4 years ago

 

As previously noted, an old Tom Brady done it with Tampa. Trent Difler won it with the Ravens. I think Hostetler won it with the Foreskins. A team's chances are better with an elite QB, but a mediocre QB can still win it with the right supporting cast.

I'll agree that a 42 year old Rodgers isn't going to carry a team to a SB, but he's still good enough to allow a team to carry him to one.

 

It take a A+ roster to win a super bowl with a mediocre QB or that QB has a crazy hot streak in the playoffs like Foles in 2017.Brady was great in the 40s but he is the exception

You are in trouble when you need to rely on the outlier to have hope!

 

I don't know about "stacked"... They had a quality roster though. They lacked a quality RB, but Evans/Godwin/Brate was a really good weapons room otherwise. Gronk was acquired alongside Brady after a brief retirement. Their defense was very stout against the run and turned the ball over at a good enough rate, but was pretty bad against the pass (looking at the 2019 stats as that is the team that Brady inherited prior to playing the 2020 season). It actually isn't a ton different than our defense now, though our 2024 defense was slightly worse against the run and a decent bit better against the pass than the 2020 Bucs. It also generated more turnovers.

Our roster isn't as far off as you make it out to be, but it definitely isn't as good. Mainly because DK/Muth/Smith/Austin isn't as good as Evans/Godwin/Gronk/Miller. Also because Rodgers at this age isn't as good as Brady was in 2020. But our RB situation is better, and our defense is better than theirs was.

 

Dilfer and Hostetler were from a different era.. can't do that anymore without solid QB play throughout the playoffs.

 

The 2019 Bucs defense were much better in the second half of the season.Their number in pass defense were not very good but it was because they were so good against the run that the opposing team had so many pass attempts.They were still 12th in yards per pass attempts...They were also 29th in PPG but it was because Jameis was a interception machine in 2019 with 30!

 

Am i missing something? Are you saying let TJ play out his contract and hope for a SB, then trade a FA? Or are you saying sign him, then hope you can trade him off the new contract, which we would eat a lot of the guaranteed bonus money and hope to get maybe a 2nd in return? TJ holds the team by the scutulum right now, any offer they get he can simply say, Nah I dont think I will show up, he can sit out and eat the fines (I think he can handle it), they can tag him and he can simply say no thanks I won't sign.


A deal will likely get done, there appears interest from some teams, you have to at least look at them for business sake. Pretty much everything you said is fantasy BS.

 

Sadly, you're all correct. Crappy DC (another in-house promotion for a DC that hasn't done anything), an OC that gets numbers but has an offense that isn't likely to win a playoff game against a team that has a good DL and and can sling the football all over the field on offense. Our five FGs won't match their five TDs.

Tomlin's biggest annoyance is his conservatism with the game plan and coordinators. He wants to keep games close and win them all in the fourth quarter.

I still want Tomlin gone...like 7 years ago...to get a HC that will take a chance on a young, up-n-comer or convince Rooney to pony up for PROVEN OC or DC. Why does a Vic Fangio or Wade Phillips (old now, but past 20 years) bounce around with 4 or 5 teams and the Steelers didn't jump at the chance to give them complete control of the defense? I think its mostly Tomlin, and partly Rooney and their penny-pinching.

Maybe a nose-dive this year is best, but with Rodgers I feel some hope. It would take stars aligning, but he's the best QB we've had since the 2nd to last year of Ben (Ben was shot the final year).

 

Fournette was not a quality RB? Last time I checked... Fournette completely destroyed the Steelers front 7 in the playoff loss to Jax/Bortles after the '17 season. He was still just as good in 2020 with Bucs.

 

Yeah because that sure helped the Raiders by trading away Khalil Mack, I mean they have had one winning season since they have traded him away 7, or 8 years ago.LoL