2024 Steelers season – Page 3 – Syndication Server

Steelers other roster needs could mean a trade of RB Najee Harris

The Steelers might trade Najee Harris before he hits free agency.

The more we think about the situation between the Pittsburgh Steelers and running back Najee Harris, the less inclined to believe Harris will be on the team after this season. We even wonder if Harris will even make it to the trade deadline this season.

Harris has been everything as advertised after being the Steelers first-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Despite underwhelming offensive line play, Harris has topped 1,000 rushing yards in each of the last three seasons. A feat no other running back in the league has accomplished during that same stretch.

But Harris is on the wrong end of the business side of things. Running backs are grossly undervalued in the NFL and Harris is on the wrong end of a running back by committee with Jaylen Warren. Warren is a younger, cheaper and more explosive option on the roster and has proven to be capable to carry the run game.

Taking it all a step further, it might not just be a case of the Steelers not re-signing Harris after the year. With some definite roster needs, Harris might end up part of a trade during training camp for a team that could use a power back and might have a wide receiver they could part with.

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How many rookies will start for the Steelers in 2024?

The Steelers could see multiple rookies in the starting lineup.

The Pittsburgh Steelers put together one of the best draft classes in the NFL in 2024. Pittsburgh made seven picks and all of them have the potential to start at some point in their careers.

But in 2024 the Steelers roster has some needs and we want to see how many of the rookie class crack the starting lineup this season. Here is the full rundown of Steelers picks:

First round – OT Troy Fautanu, Washington

Second round – C Zach Frazier, West Virginia

Third round – WR Roman Wilson, Michigan

Third round – LB Payton Wilson, North Carolina State

Fourth round – IOL Mason McCormick, South Dakota State

Sixth round – DL Logan Lee, Iowa

Sixth round – DB Ryan Watts, Texas

We feel like as of now, there are three rookies who should be starters on Week One. Offensive tackle Troy Fautanu, center Zach Frazier and wide receiver Roman Wilson make the most sense. Inside linebacker Payton Wilson has an outside chance as well but beyond that, it feels more like these guys are future starters but key rotational guys as early as this season.

Cast your vote and tell us how many rookies you predict will start this season.

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Steelers LB T.J. Watt says for the first time in his career, he has ‘started to feel old’

For the past seven seasons, the centerpiece of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense has been edge defender T.J. Watt. In just seven seasons he’s established himself as the best pass rusher in franchise history, one of the best defensive players in the NFL and a near surefire Hall of Famer.

And now he’s old. At least that’s how Watt feels. Watt will turn 30 during the 2024 season.

“I feel old,” Watt said. “This is the first time in my career that I’ve started to feel old.”

“It’s weird. It’s very strange,” said Watt. “But it’s also kind of a check to understand that I don’t get to play this game forever. I understand that I’m not going to be able to play this game for 10 more years, so I need to be able to make each and every day count, each and every year count. I need to and do everything possible to bring another championship back to this city.”

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Steelers bold predictions: Pittsburgh RBs to join elite company

Pittsburgh running backs Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris have a chance to break records in 2024.

Last season, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris had his third-straight 1,000-yard rushing season. Harris finished with 1,035 yards and just behind him was Jaylen Warren who had 784 rushing yards of his own.

But this season, with a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith who has proven he can cultivate a dominant run game things could be even better. This is in addition to two new offensive linemen on the team via the 2024 NFL draft.

This might not be the most bold prediction but we expect the tandem of Harris and Warren to be the eighth pair to both rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.

The land players to do it were Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Mark Ingram in 2019. The last time two running backs accomplished such a feat was 2009 when DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart with the Carolina Panthers. Williams and Stewart have the highest total of any pair with 2,250 total rushing yards. We also expect Harris and Warren to pass that total.

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Steelers DT Cam Heyward planning to hold out waiting on new contract

The Steelers need to get Cam Heyward a new contract.

According to ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward did not attend voluntary workouts and does not plan to attend OTAs while he works on getting a new contract.

Heyward has never missed offseason workouts during his 13 seasons in Pittsburgh. Heyward missed six games last season with injuries and played hurt for much of the season. He finished 2023 with only two sacks, his worst total since 2012. This was his last season before becoming a starter.

2024 is the final year of Heyward’s current contract and he doesn’t want to play this year as a lame duck. Heyward’s cap hit for this season is $22,406,250 million which works out to 8.7 percent of the salary cap.

Heyward has made it clear he wants to play several more years despite being 35 years old and Pittsburgh needs to do right by the current Walter Payton Man of the Year. No one wants to see Heyward finish his career anywhere but Pittsburgh.

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Will Steelers QB Justin Fields play in 2024?

Should the Steelers be responsible to get Justin Fields on the field this season?

The biggest project the Pittsburgh Steelers front office and coaching staff undertook this offseason was to rebuild the quarterback depth chart. Pittsburgh brought in both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields but by all accounts, the starting quarterback job currently belongs to Wilson and it will stay that way.

Both Fields and Wilson are playing on one-year contracts but joining the team from completely different points of view. Wilson is looking to go out on a high note in his stellar career and Fields is hoping to get a promising career back on track. Something that can’t happen if he’s not on the field in 2024.

This doesn’t feel very fair to Fields if the Steelers are going to bring him in, not let him on the field and then send him into free agency with no opportunity to improve. Cast your vote and tell us if you think the Steelers will find ways to get Fields into games this season or is he only playing if Wilson gets hurt?

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Is Steelers HC Mike Tomlin on the hot seat in 2024?

The Steelers continue to build a contending roster and now it is up to HC Mike Tomlin to get the best of them.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has gone 17 seasons as the team’s head coach without a losing season. That’s a pretty remarkable stat. But not all of the stats during Tomlin’s tenure have been so good. An 8-10 playoff record and a playoff win drought going back to 2016 does nothing to quiet the critics.

This offseason, the Steelers front office has taken the proverbial big swing. The team completely gutted the quarterback depth chart and brought in Russell Wilson and Justin Fields both on one-year contracts. It feels like this roster is being built for a big run in 2024.

This is in addition to multiple other roster upgrades as well as a brand new offensive coordinator. All of this makes us wonder if Tomlin is feeling some pressure to be more than just a competitive team in the regular season and if his job be in jeopardy if the team doesn’t take that next step this season with all the new additions.

Cast your vote and let us know if you think Tomlin is on the hot seat in 2024.

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Oddsmakers project Steelers to take big step back in 2024

Oddsmakers are underestimating the Steelers yet again.

What’s going to happen with the Pittsburgh Steelers this coming season is anybody’s guess. It’s literally going to be a whole new ballgame.

But it’s the job of sports betting outlets to throw numbers out there on a variety of things from the over/under of how a particular player will perform to the result of a season.

BetMGM has the Steelers’ over/under win total at a measly 7.5. C’mon Vegas! Be confident and go with the over. The team got better via a strong first wave of free agency and can only get stronger when the draft rolls around in 2.5 weeks.

Despite subpar quarterback play, the Steelers managed to squeak out 10 wins in 2023. You’d think having a guy like Russell Wilson under center who is experienced at throwing touchdowns (unlike what they’ve had since Ben Roethlisberger retired) is worth 10.5 at minimum.

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How much better off are the Steelers with QBs Russell Wilson, Justin Fields?

The Steelers 2024 season will look vastly different than it has in years past.

This coming season will look vastly different for the Pittsburgh Steelers — even more so than it did the season after Ben Roethlisberger retired.

After firing Matt Canada and replacing him with Arthur Smith, Pittsburgh completely dismantled its quarterback room this offseason. Everyone was out: First, Mitch Trubisky, then Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett. They were replaced by two guys on opposite ends of the spectrum in nine-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson and work-in-progress Justin Fields.

Will the Steelers be better off from a record standpoint merely because they upgraded at the quarterback position?

The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly doesn’t believe it’s as simple as that.

“Some look at the 10 wins last year and just automatically say it can be 12 in 2024,” Kaboly wrote in a recent mailbag. “But what about the games they won that they easily could have lost? Cleveland, Baltimore, Green Bay and Tennessee are four games off the top of my head that the Steelers easily could have lost.”

Except for the Week 16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, each of Pittsburgh’s 10 wins was by a touchdown or less.

Of course, as key as quarterback play is, football is a team sport, and any number of aspects can determine the outcome.

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QB Russell Wilson circles one game on Steelers schedule

Pen hasn’t even been put to paper yet, and we already know that Russell Wilson has a game circled on the Steelers schedule.

Pen hasn’t even been put to paper yet, but we already know that Russell Wilson has a game circled on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponents schedule: the Denver Broncos.

We won’t know for a couple more months exactly when Pittsburgh will travel to Denver, only that it’s happening. And it’ll be a good one.

The Broncos lead the head-to-head series, 20-13-1 (10-15-1 regular season, 3-5 postseason).

Wilson’s very public divorce from the Broncos came at the tail end of the 2023 season. After a midseason five-game win streak gave Denver a shot at making the playoffs, Wilson was benched for the final two games for refusing to adjust the injury clause in his contract.

Denver’s loss was Pittsburgh’s gain. But no matter who the offensive coordinator or quarterback has been, the Steelers typically come out of the gate slow. Hopefully, the NFL doesn’t get all giddy and schedule Denver for the Steelers’ season opener.

Even if they do, something tells us Wilson will play at a high level with revenge as the fuel.

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