Do you think the Steelers will make a splash move in free agency?

Not overly thrilled with the FA this year but a lil encouraged.
It seems practical which is good.

 

Practical is a good MO

Overpaying is not

 

Just let it hang
It will depart
Eventually

 

I have

Personally i'm quite happy with the additions. Amazing what happens when you don't have someone (cough cough Bags) standing over your shoulder.

 

Ramsey>Thornhill
Brisker>Clark
Pittman>CA3
Dean>Slay
SJD>Loudermilk
Samuel push Pierre

While they may still have holes and I am really curious how they align the secondary, as Blast Furnace mentioned, they are better on paper with every move. Not too much to get upset about.

 

I think these moves make us at least a little better (a lot better at WR).

But will it be good enough to compete for more than the playoffs? Again...depends on QB (who I assume will be Rodgers).

I think whether we make the playoffs will also depend on the health of Lamar and Burrow. If they both have a healthy season, I just think it's hard for us to make the playoffs. But they typically don't both have a healthy season.

 

I think the Steelers have a bunch more work to do before the health of other teams impacts their season.

They need to solve the following issues:

• Threaten defenses vertically. Last several seasons, teams have compressed their entire defense to within 5 yards or so of the LOS.
• A consistent running game. Maybe the above helps with this? But they just can't run the ball when they need to.
• QB has to be willing to hold the ball long enough to let plays develop. I think this is more of an old Aaron Rodgers thing than a scheme thing. So....not holding my breath.
• ILBs have to either be kept incredibly clean or they have to be able to get off blocks and sift through traffic. Too often, the Steelers ILBs had no impact on the run game.
• Sub packages DBs have to not just be an automatic completion. There are many examples, but the Texans just found Echols and beat him like a drum. Same with Clark.

The FA signings have hopefully helped improve the sub-package DBs. Maybe the new coaching staff can do something with the ILBs. BUT...the only coach that was retained was the ILB coach....so who knows?

If MM can convince Rodgers to hang in on plays and push the ball downfield, he will have done something that no coach has done since 2021.

I could go on...but the team has a ton of work to do in the draft and in the meeting rooms to give themselves a shot at the playoffs...let alone advancing.

 

I agree with all of your bullet points. Especially re: explosive plays. I assume having more than one NFL WR will help in this regard (if the OL can keep the QB clean).

We also need explosive plays in the run game. Which is why I was only "meh" on the Dowdle signing. Not only does this again mean that Johnson won't get much work. But we again have 2x pretty good RBs who don't get many explosive plays. I was hoping for more of a "lightning" type back. as the RB2.

I think what I'm trying to say is that if the two elite QBs in the division are healthy, it seems unlikely that there's anything we can do to do more than scrape our way into the 7th seed.

But you never know...the Bengals are the Bengals.

 

I can agree with this. I also think that the contracts we gave were fair and not overpriced. A quality WR2 for less than $20m a year, a quality veteran CB2 for $12m a year, quality tandem RB for $6m a year, a couple of "prove it" deals in the secondary and some decent depth at CB, DL, etc. We still very much can pivot off these players and contracts, some as early as one year.

I still think we will address OG in the draft (hopefully day 2) and have an open competition with Anderson for the starting LG role. Cook and Jones will battle for LT. We can still draft a WR, CB, or S early and have the ability to go T as well if we like someone. QB is the dark horse, but either way I still expect one more year of Rodgers.

 

1. DK can threaten vertically. He just wasn't able to have this impact last season because the offense had no other weapons and he had bracket doubles all day. Pittman should help open this up and a slot threat from the draft would make this even better. If we stay put in the draft, I think Omar Cooper Jr. is the best thing we can do.
2. Our running game was very efficient last year. We didn't impose our will, but we also were very shy to run it (why, I don't know). Dowdle is a great pick up and both backs can run, run with power, excel in space, and be a reliable pass catching outlet. I don't see why our run game wont continue to be successful.
3. eh, maybe. I think he will be more willing to hold onto the ball if he could trust that more than just DK and the RB could get open. Not necessarily counting on it, but it seems likely.
4. Our LB room is bad. Queen is the only starting caliber player we have. Holcomb's knee limits him to reserve duty, Wilson is too much of a liability in the run game, and Harrison is just a 2 down thumper... I want a day 2 pick spent on ILB in a bad way. We need some more talent in that room, as we considered trading our only capable player in it.
5. Both the guys you've mentioned have been effectively replaced. Samuel is likely the slot option over Echols and Clark has been replaced with Brisker and Savage. Only time will tell if they're upgrades, but they look that way on paper.

 

Biggest upgrade (on paper) is going from Teryl Austin to Patrick Graham Jr. That said, Patrick Graham's defenses have not been the most turnover successful during his tenure in Las Vegas. I would attribute that more to talent that scheme but it is difficult to say.


Time will tell on that front. As far as stopping the run though, Graham's schemes are not to be faulted there.

 

As of 3-17-26. The Steelers made a significant upgrade at Cornerback, Wide Receiver, and an upgrade at Running Back.

• CB Jamel Dean: 3-year, $36.75 million contract to start opposite Joey Porter Jr..
• WR Michael Pittman Jr.: Acquired in a trade with the Colts (signed to a 3-year extension).
• S Jaquan Brisker: 1-year, $5.5 million deal to bolster the secondary.
• DL Sebastian Joseph-Day: 2-year, $11 million contract, per Spotrac.com and YouTube.
• RB Rico Dowdle: 2-year, $12.25 million contract.
• S Darnell Savage: 1-year deal to increase safety depth, according to NFL.com.
• OT Jack Driscoll: 1-year deal added to offensive line depth, as reported on the ESPN and NFL.com.
• P Cameron Johnston: 1-year deal, pe