Tag: 2020 Steelers offseason

The Steelers need to kick the tires on DT Linval Joseph

Linval Joseph is a free agent for the Steelers to consider.

Despite the drastic events surrounding many professional collegiate sports, the NFL continues to limp into the new league year with only moderate adjustments. Many teams announced some high-profile cuts to help get their salary caps in order heading into free agency next week.

One player released who should be of interest to the Pittsburgh Steelers is defensive tackle Linval Joseph. Joseph was a second-round pick of the New York Giants back in 2010 but he’s spent the last six anchoring the middle for the Minnesota Vikings.

Pittsburgh is going to need an upgrade along their interior defensive line once Javon Hargrave hits the free-agent market. Pittsburgh is already strapped for cash to sign anyone and after a very strong 2019 season, Hargrave is going to cash in.

Joseph isn’t a longterm solution as he will turn 32 years old during the 2020 season. But he’d be a definite upgrade over Isaiah Buggs and Dan McCullers. In addition, the Steelers could still use a draft pick on a young defensive tackle and Joseph would be an ideal insurance policy.

Last season the Steelers defense saw a huge resurgence. Most give credit to guys like safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and edge T.J. Watt and rightfully so. But you cannot discount the improvement in Hargrave and how his increased reps fed into how much better the defense played.

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Pittsburgh Steelers positional unit preview ahead of free agency: Quarterbacks

The Steelers quarterback depth chart is on shaky ground until Ben Roethlisberger comes back.

On March 18 the new NFL year starts and every team will hit the ground running in preparations for the 2020 season. We are going to take a look at where each of the Pittsburgh Steelers positional units stand heading into the offseason, starting with the quarterbacks.

Ben Roethlisberger-We are waiting for another update on Roethlisberger’s surgically-repaired elbow but at this point, we have a short video of him lightly throwing a football in a gym. Optimism is high that Big Ben will be back to 100 percent but right now nothing is certain except we don’t know what will happen.

Mason Rudolph-Speaking of the walking wounded, Rudolph has just resumed throwing as well after suffering a shoulder injury late in the season. Rudolph’s injury isn’t as significant as Roethlisberger’s and he should be ok to resume his role as the team’s backup. However, after his struggles last season, it’s hard to be enthused about the quarterback spot if he is needed as a starter again.

The rest-Devlin Hodges, Paxton Lynch and J.T. Barrett round out the depth chart but none of them are more than camp filler. We saw last season what life would be like if Hodges had to start and no one wants that again.

Outlook-This group looks to be a weak spot on the team until it has a fully healthy Roethlisberger. Once he’s back we can all breathe easier about the future of this football team. But until then, this is the one group to have the greatest impact on the ultimate success of the Steelers in 2020.

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Three 2021 Steelers free agents that need extensions this offseason

The Steelers have several free agents to look at this offseason for beyond 2020.

With NFL free agency just days away, most teams are focused on what they need to do with their current crop of free agents. But with every team, including the Pittsburgh Steelers, you must always look ahead to the following year’s group of free agents in hopes of getting a few top-tier guys signed to extensions before they can hit the streets.

The Steelers don’t have much to work with in terms of salary cap this offseason but it doesn’t change their goals. It just means they have to get creative with their contracts to make it happen.

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Here are the top three guys the Steelers should try and lock up this offseason.

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster

Despite having a down 2019, Smith-Schuster’s pedigree speaks for itself. With a healthy return of Ben Roethlisberger, you can be assured Smith-Schuster will have a huge bounceback season.

CB Joe Haden

Haden is the ageless wonder and seems to be playing his best football. The Steelers will have a tough decision to make if they want to extend him again and keep the cornerback unit in place.

CB Cam Sutton

As a backup plan, if the Steelers aren’t going to try to lock up Haden early, they might be able to get Sutton a long-term contract without overpaying. Sutton came on last season and only lost reps because of how good Mike Hilton is in the slot.

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Which player will the Steelers miss the most in 2020?

The Steelers could love multiple starters this offseason.

The Pittsburgh Steelers could be minus several 2019 starters when the 2020 season gets going. Unfortunately, due to strict salary cap restraints, Pittsburgh is going to be unable to re-sign several key players and will have to replace them with cheaper, and likely younger and more inexperienced options.

The main guys who are probably on their way out via free agency are linebacker Bud Dupree and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave. In terms of salary cap cuts, linebacker Mark Barron, tight end Vance McDonald and guard Ramon Foster are the prime candidates. But which loss will hurt the most?

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I suspect Dupree is going to win this one going away. But don’t rule out just how important Hargrave was to this defense last season. Cast your vote and tell us which of these guys will be missed the most if they Steelers don’t bring them back.

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4 Steelers position battles to watch this offseason

Several starting spots will be sorted out this offseason.

Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports

When you fail to make the playoffs for two years in a row, a team has to often make some tough decisions about their personnel and who gives the team the best chance to win. You pair this up with a precarious salary cap situation and you get an understanding of what the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be dealing with this offseason.

Due to roster cuts and free-agency departures, Pittsburgh could be looking at a handful of new starters in 2020. Here are four positions where there could be heated position battles during offseason workouts.

Left guard

The Steelers need to create salary-cap space and this means it could be the end for starting left guard Ramon Foster. If this should happen, it will send a whole series of events in motion in relation to replacing him. The two guys to keep an eye on there are B.J. Finney and Matt Feiler. Feiler was the team’s starting right tackle for much fo the last two seasons but with Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner waiting in the wings at tackle, Feilder and Finney will square off to take the interior starting job.

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6 potential salary cap cuts the Steelers should be interested in

If these guys are released, they could be signed pretty cheap.

Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Last offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers went out into free agency and spent some big money on guys like cornerback Steven Nelson, wide receiver Donte Moncrief and linebacker Mark Barron. Nelson turned out to be the only hit of the bunch. This offseason, the Steelers have almost no salary cap space to work with and will be shopping out of the bargain bin when it comes to free agency.

Here are six guys who could be cap casualties the Steelers might be able to pick up on sale.

G Ronald Leary

Leary could be a nice veteran option if the Steelers release Ramon Foster. When he played with Dallas he was exceptional but he’s struggled to stay healthy with the Broncos. He could be a great one-year stopgap guy while the Steelers sort out between B.J. Finney and Matt Feiler.

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4 ways the Steelers can bungle the offseason

Here are the big mistakes the Steelers need to avoid this offseason.

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

As disappointing as the 2019 season was, there is plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the 2020 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers. We saw the defense ascend to the elite in the NFL thanks to the emergence of T.J. Watt and the addition of Minkah Fitzpatrick. And this offseason Pittsburgh has a chance to keep that momentum going along with bringing the offense back up to speed.

But there are always things that can go wrong. Here are four mistakes the Steelers could make this offseason to bungle their 2020 season.

Don’t have a plan B for Ben Roethlisberger

We should know if a week or two where Roethsliebrger is in his recovery from elbow surgery. The team has come out and said they are comfortable with the quarterback situation as of now but this update could change all that. One big misstep the Steelers could make is to not formulate a legitimate Plan B is Roethlisberger has a setback.

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Rate your confidence in the Steelers quarterback situation

Are you feeling good about the Steelers quarterback situation right now?

Last season, the quarterback situation for the Pittsburgh Steelers was a nightmare. Ben Roethlisberger went down very early and after that things just went downhill. Nevertheless, according to general manager Kevin Colbert is confident in the Steelers quarterback situation heading into the offseason. But you the fans?

Rate your confidence from 1-5 with five being absolute confidence and one being the season is over before it starts.

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As of right now, I’m right in the middle with a three. That number will almost certainly shift in the coming weeks when there is an official update on the injury to Roethlisberger. If it looks like training camp is in question for Roethlisberger, you hope the Steelers have a Plan B that extends beyond just Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges and Paxton Lynch.

Cast your vote and tell us how confident you are with the Steelers quarterbacks as of now.

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Steelers GM Kevin Colbert confident with backup quarterback situation

Kevin Colbert gave his backup quarterbacks a vote of confidence on Thursday.

Despite all the problems the Pittsburgh Steelers had at quarterback in 2019, general manager Kevin Colbert continues to tow the company line. Colbert spoke to the media on Thursday and doubled down on the opinion that the team is happy with their backup quarterback situation.

Right now the biggest unknown for the Steelers is how healthy will Ben Roethlisberger be at the start of the season. Considering Colbert feels like sticking with guys like Mason Rudolph, Devlin Hodges and Paxton Lynch as reserves, he’s making the huge assumption that Roethlisberger is coming all the way back.

But as Colbert said, in August they might think differently. The problem with taking that approach is in August the field of available quarterbacks is going to be trash compared to what it will be in March. This failure to plan is a plan to fail if Roethlisberger isn’t healthy.

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This is the offseason for the Steelers to add a veteran quarterback

Could the Steelers go ahead and sign a veteran quarterback?

If you embrace the chaos of the NFL, this is the offseason for you. There is the potential of nearly 10 starter-quality quarterbacks on the free-agent market or available in a trade. I know Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II has said publicly the team has no plans to sign a veteran quarterback but they probably didn’t plan to lose their franchise quarterback in the second game of the season last year either.

Here’s a rundown of quarterbacks who will be or could be available to sign or trade for:

Tom Brady

Drew Brees

Dak Prescott

Philip Rivers

Jameis Winston

Teddy Bridgewater

Marcus Mariota

Case Keenum

Taysom Hill

Ryan Tannehill

You could see a huge shift in the landscape of the NFL depending on where these quarterbacks end up. In terms of the Pittsburgh Steelers, they could see this as an opportunity to bring in a player with starter experience to back up Ben Roethlisberger. No one is looking for a long-term solution among this group but a player like Marcus Mariota or Case Keenum could provide some stability where the Steelers had none with Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges.

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