The Steelers could have been contenders in 2025

The AFC is wide open this season. The Broncos seem to be headed for the top seed and their offense sucks. The Bills are good, but flawed, The Chiefs might not even make the playoffs. The Ravens are 6-6. The opportunity was there. The Steelers had the chance to take advantage, but blew it before the season.

Some of this is hindsight. Some of it is things I knew were mistakes at the time and wrote about here, but the opportunities were there. I think Tomlin was the biggest obstacle. This doesn't fit into the type of team he wants, so it was never going to happen.

Step one would have been to tell T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward they weren't going to get the money they wanted. If they weren't ready to accept that their pay had to be in line with their declining skills, both had to be gone. Watt could have fetched at least a first-round pick, perhaps more. Heyward probably would have either played on his old deal or retired. For the sake of argument, let's assume they would have both been gone.

That would have left the Steelers with some serious holes on defense, but those could be bolstered in free agency and the draft. Not holding on to cap room for Watt would have opened up more cap room to spend on help at linebacker and defensive tackle in addition to other positions.

I don't have a problem with the Metcalf trade, but they should have held on to Minkah Fitzpatrick. Jonnu Smith has been a bust and Ramsey is just replacing Fitzpatrick, so there is no reason to make that deal.

They also should have kept Pickens. That would have given them a dynamic pair of receivers that defenses would have to respect. It was also a selling point for a quarterback, which opens up the next part.

They should have gone harder after Sam Darnold. Give him one more year guaranteed than the Seahawks if they must. They would have the room without Watt's massive deal.

The remaining free agent money would have had to go for a solid player at outside linebacker and another on the defensive line. Making a better choice than Slay at corner would have helped, too. I would have to go back and look at the available options to be more specific. Maybe Khalil Mack as a stopgap. He signed with the Chargers relatively cheaply. Bringing back Javon Hargrave might have been another option. It's not as if Heyward has been good this season.

That defense would have been worse, but at least they wouldn't have had Thornhill at safety ruining things for half the season. The offense would have been much better. They would have had to go away from Tomlin's conservative style, but it would have worked better than what we're seeing.

The other step would have been replacing Austin as defensive coordinator before the season. His approach clearly does not work. The Steelers would have needed to adjust to create a functional unit.

Maybe none of this would have worked. The Steelers are undisciplined and selfish. Keeping Pickens wouldn't have helped with that, but it would have given then more talent to overcome it.

As I mentioned elsewhere, when most of the students in a class are getting a D with almost no one above a C and a few failing, the students with failing grades aren't the problem. It is the teacher. That's Tomlin. Maybe nothing works until he is gone, but this team should have had much better talent for 2025.

 

True... I've wanted a full rebuild since Ben left, but what they've done since then is only a half rebuild, and that's a major reason why they're stuck in the middle.

It's too late now to trade Watt, etc., but I hope for a new regime and a new coaching staff as soon as possible... A rebuild can be very quick in the NFL if it's done right.

The Broncos were a true dumpster fire in 2023 with Wilson's bad contract and very few draft picks, but a few years later they're now 10-2.

 

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!!

 

They have no vision

 

Rodgers is getting paid more than Darnold.

They wanted Rodgers. They were wrong.

At safety...they clearly identified Fitzpatrick as part of the problem. Looking at the end of last year when he was just lost in his assignments....something was clearly amiss. I have not seen the Dolphins play, but their defense is pretty terrible? The only other FA safety that could maybe have helped is Cam Bynum...but I do not know enough about his play to know if he would've made an impact.

The biggest problem with the defense is the offense. You could have the 2008 defense out there and facing that many plays and with that large of a TOP disparity....they would break. Not to say this is the 2008 defense....but they are not being put in a position to succeed.

 

That was kind of my point. When you are constantly on the field, it is hard to get the stops you need.

There were a few seasons during the Troy P era that the defense struggled to get off the field and get stops. Troy almost always pointed to the offense not possessing the ball as the biggest underlying reason.

 

We would have been one and done in the playoff at best because of Mike Tomlin. He's had better talent than what you mentioned above with Big Ben in his prime, great receiving corp etc and he was one and done at best after Lebeau left and Polamalu got old. It has always been defensive scheme that's the weakness. That's Tomlin's strength or he claims to be his strength. Ben would have had couple more Division championship appearance at least if not for for Tomlin. He has also wasted TJ Watt and Cameron Heyward's career. Heyward should have been mad at Tomlin rather than Josh Allen on Sunday. I blame Tony Dungy for saddling the Steelers with Tomlin.

 

Most of that isn't hindsight. I was in favor of moving on from Watt before they gave him the new contract. I was against giving in to Heyward. I argued for them to spend more on a better free agent corner. I was never a fan of the Fitzpatrick trade. I spoke out against the Pickens trade when it happened. I argued for going after Darnold over Rodgers.

 

I did acknowledge that coaching would be an issue, though part of my proposed plan was getting rid of Austin. I think you are underestimating the value of adding a solid quarterback and an elite receiver to the offense.

 

Huh? Darnold's signing bonus alone is more than Rodgers' entire contract.

Fitzpatrick had declined significantly, but he was far better than Thornhill.

 

I doubt any team would give up a first for Watt he's 31 and on the decline, the Slay and Thornhill signings was because Khan was playing the comp game.

 

They didn't give in to Heyward they added some incentives that he's unlikely to earn.

 

Poor phrasing on my part. I meant that their respective 2025 cap hits are similar with Darnold's being slightly smaller.

Anyone was and is better than Thornhill. That was an egregious mistake by someone somewhere. That dude has stunk for a few seasons now.

 

There were rumors of teams calling to offer more. Someone would have bit on that. If they didn't, you tell him to play out his existing deal and move on after the season.

 

wrong

with Tomlin, we will NEVER be contenders.

just pretenders.

have not been a contender since Ben was in HIS PRIME, the 2016 season.....

everyone should have FIRED after that JAX loss - all the coaches, and the page should have been turned.

 

Nah. There's a couple teams every year that have tons of cap space, sign a bunch of expensive free agents wanting to win now, and then flame out hard. We're just the latest example. It's hard to rebuild a team in free agency. Most of the free agents aren't being retained for a reason. You build a team through the draft, and then use your salary cap to retain the best and fill a hole here and there. The jury is still out on 23-25, but 19-22 have been a disaster. Just Friermuth, young Heyward, Calvin Austin, and Highsmith still contributing.

I don't even think it's necessarily poor drafting, but poor development. Dotson is a pro-bowler now. Moore is a solid starter for the Titans. And of course Pickens.

 

Tomlin doesn't have 4 rings and he did not build a dynasty, but the trajectory is similar.

So, to summarize: Chuck Noll was not fired by the Pittsburgh Steelers—he retired after 23 seasons as head coach in December 1991. The decision was shaped by several factors:

1. Declining Team Performance
After winning his fourth Super Bowl in 1979, the Steelers gradually slipped from dominance. From 1984 onward, they had only one playoff appearance (1989) and no division titles. Noll’s record after 1979 was 93–91, and 51–60 after 1984.

2. Organizational Tension
By the late 1980s, Dan Rooney began questioning Noll’s coaching staff and wanted changes after a 5–11 season in 1988. Noll resisted firing assistants, which created friction. The Steelers were also reorganizing personnel responsibilities, diluting Noll’s control.

3. NFL Landscape Shift
Free agency was emerging in the early 1990s, and Noll disliked the trend. He believed in building through the draft and maintaining continuity, so the new era of player movement didn’t fit his philosophy.

4. Personal Readiness
At age 59, Noll felt he had lost his zest for coaching. He told Dan Rooney privately before announcing his retirement at a press conference on December 26, 1991. The meeting with Rooney lasted less than two hours before the decision was made public.
Aftermath

Noll left with a legacy of four Super Bowl wins (IX, X, XIII, XIV), nine division titles, and 209 career victories. He remained with the Steelers in an advisory role after retiring.

 

Because the defense gets worn down it’s pretty simple. The offense has killed this team repeatedly. Their inability to sustain drives, convert third downs… people love to point at Austin et al, but the offense is largely the problem. The defense has already played like twoi extra games of snaps. If the offense could actually sustain a few drives a game things would be significantly different

 

Come on, this isn't the Pirates thread!