Tag: Steelers roster

Insider predicts Steelers to upgrade defense at trade deadline

Steelers insider Gerry Dulac believes Pittsburgh could have their eyes on defensive players at the trade deadline, primarily edge rushers.

The day has finally arrived—the exciting trade deadline!  Several analysts, players, and fans believed the Pittsburgh Steelers would be heavily involved in acquiring wide receivers at the trade deadline; however, one insider thinks that is unlikely. Steelers insider Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette predicts the team will use the trade deadline to bolster the defense, focusing on depth concerns.

Appearing on the Randy Baumann & the DVE Morning Show, Dulac stated that “I do think they might make a deal to improve their depth, and you could look at maybe certain positions where they are lacking a little depth.” He mentioned concerns with edge rushers and cornerbacks.

This aligns with relevant issues, as OLB Nick Herbig is dealing with a serious hamstring injury, and OLB Alex Highsmith recently returned from an injury in Week 3.

Whether Pittsburgh should make the safe trade or the exciting one remains to be seen. However, the trade deadline on November 5th at 4:00 PM EST is around the corner, and fans of the Black and Gold will soon know what the team’s roster will look like in the second half of the 2024 season.

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Surprising player is the Steelers best offseason addition

The Steelers added several new players this offseason who have had significant impacts on the team.

The success of the Pittsburgh Steelers this season has been due in large part to a great number of new additions to the roster. A case could be made for several players both in free agency and via the NFL draft who have been the best addition of the offseason but for us, the signing of safety DeShon Elliott ranks at the top.

Elliott has proven to be an excellent addition to a defense that’s been in need of a more versatile safety next to Minkah Fitzpatrick for several years. Elliott is adept at working in the box as a run defender but is fearless in coverage as well.

On the season, Elliott has 27 tackles, one interception, one fumble recovery and three passes defended. According to Pro Football Focus, Elliott has an overall grade of 81.7 on the season. This ranks seventh-best in the NFL. His run defense grade of 91.3 is tops among safeties.

Of course we could talk about quarterback Justin Fields as a huge addition as well but it’s hard to diminish what Elliott has meant to this defense.

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Steelers sign TE Pat Freiermuth to huge new contract

The Steelers locked up starting tight end Pat Freiermuth.

According to NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport, the Pittsburgh Steelers and tight end Pat Freiermuth have agreed to a new four-year contract for the tight end with a total value of $48 million.

The new contract, as reported by Firemeuth’s representation comes just two days before the Steelers first regular-season game and the Steelers personal deadline for negotiating with free agents.

Freiermuth figures to be a huge part of the Steelers passing offense this season under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Friermuth has been underutilized throughout his career so this payday might be the sign the team is planning to make him a focal point of the passing game.

Earlier in the week the Steelers agreed to a new massive contract with defensive tackle Cam Heyward. Heyward and Freiermuth were the team’s top priorities but there are still several guys set to hit free agency in 2025 who don’t have new deals.

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Loyalty to T.J. Watt could hurt the Steelers in free agency

The Steelers can’t let potential hurt feelings impact their contract decisions.

An interesting development in the failed trade for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was the terms of the contract the Pittsburgh Steelers were offering to Aiyuk. It might seem like a non-issue at this point since the Niners ended up re-signing Aiyuk but this philosophy could be a detriment to the Steelers going forward in further trades and free agency.

According to NFL reporter Albert Breer, the contract offer the Steelers had on the table for Aiyuk set his annual salary just below that of outside linebacker T.J. Watt. This was by design to keep Watt the highest-paid player on the team.

The Steelers came closest to acquiring Aiyuk. They refused to give up a current player, but were willing to part with second- and third-round picks. The interesting thing is the money wasn’t as good with the Steelers, who didn’t want to go past what T.J. Watt makes ($28 million APY) and as such offered Aiyuk $27.7 million APY. 

If this is true, it’s the most ridiculous display of loyalty I’ve seen from a team that is notorious for blind loyalty. The market dictates you have to pay players what their value is, not almost what their value is so as not to upset your highest-paid player.

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Justin Fields had teammates lobbying for him to start for the Steelers

Justin Fields could bring an added dimension to the Steelers offense as a starter.

From the moment the Steelers traded for quarterback Justin Fields we knew this could be a problem. Having already signed Russell Wilson just a day before, we wondered how the rest of the team would accept these two quarterbacks who are so different.

According to NFL reporter Albert Breer, there are players within the Steelers who were pushing for Fields to be the starter over Wilson.

“This isn’t anyone’s first rodeo in Pittsburgh, and Fields took some fundamental changes that the offensive coaches gave him (one being a return to the type of footwork he’d used at Ohio State), and really worked on them over the past few weeks of camp,” Breer said. “It was enough to have some folks internally push for Fields to start. There was, too, plenty of merit to the idea. But the way it is now, again, to give yourself two shots, also makes plenty of sense.”

The Steelers got to see much more of Fields in the preseason and while he’s still a work in progress, you cannot argue how his athleticism adds a dimension to the offense Wilson doesn’t have and does seem to fit with what offensive coordinator Arthur Smith likes to do.

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PFN offers up grim outlook for Steelers quarterbacks

Just how bad are the Steelers quarterbacks?

Things are supposed to be better, right? The Pittsburgh Steelers completely reworked their quarterback depth this offseason. Out are Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky. In their place are Russell Wilson, Justin Fields and Kyle Allen.

This group on paper is an upgrade. It just has to be. But we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge this group has struggled. In fact, Allen has been the most productive quarterback on the team in preseason. We’ve seen very little of Wilson who was simply given the starting job despite more film on Fields.

Pro Football Network ranked their worst quarterback situations going into the season and they took all this in and ranked the Steelers No. 2 with only the Las Vegas Raiders situation being worse.

https://twitter.com/PFN365/status/1829859213406814690

It won’t take long to see if this group is a strength or a weakness. We hope PFN is wrong but there’s no denying this group could be a huge problem.

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Position battle for starting offensive line heats up after injury

The Steelers will have a new starting left guard in Week One.

Just when we thought things couldn’t get more stressful for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their offensive line, another injury has popped up and set a new position battle into motion just a week from the start of the season.

First, we had rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu suffered a knee strain ending the position battle for starting left tackle for the time being.

However, when starting left guard Isaac Seumalo went down with a pectoral injury in practice, a whole new position battle arose. Seumalo’s injury isn’t expected to be season-ending however, he is sure to miss several weeks.

This means it will be a competition between veteran Spencer Anderson and rookie Mason McCormick for that spot in the starting lineup. McCormick has been impressive in the preseason but the Steelers might opt for the veteran experience of Anderson due to the fact that another rookie, Zach Frazier, is now the team’s starting center.

Pittsburgh kicks off its season in Atlanta against the new-look Falcons. It is imperative the Steelers get off to a fast start this season to keep pace in a crowded AFC.

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Steelers bringing preseason star back to practice squad

The Steelers are signing Jonathan Ward to the practice squad.

The Pittsburgh Steelers got some solid performances from several of their backup running backs during training camp and the preseason. According to NFL reporter Aaron Wilson, the Steelers are bringing at least one of them back to the practice squad.

Wilson says the Steelers are planning to sign Jonathan Ward back to the practice squad after a strong preseason. We were hoping that either Ward or La’Mical Perine would be back after the Steelers kept only three running backs and no fullback on the initial 53-man roster.

Steelers key backup running back Jaylen Warren suffered an injury in the preseason but said he will be ready to go in Week One against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Steelers have reportedly also signed former Philadelphia Eagles running back Boston Scott to the practice squad. The Steelers might be loaded up at the position to sort out if they want to carry a true third running back on the roster as opposed to using hybrid Cordarrelle Patterson.

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Steelers rookie DB done for the year

Ryan Watts suffered a stinger in the Steelers final preseason game.

When the Pittsburgh Steelers selected former Texas defensive back Ryan Watts in the 2024 NFL draft, we felt like the Steelers got a bargain. As training camp and the preseason went on, we cooled on Watts a bit but still felt like he had a shot to make the final 53-man roster.

Unfortunately, Watts suffered what head coach Mike Tomlin originally called a stinger in the team’s final preseason game but turned out to be much more than that. After seeing the team’s initial 53-man roster and Watt was absent, beat writer Gerry Dulac posted that the injury was significantly worse and Watts would miss the entire 2024 season.

The Steelers kept four safeties on the roster. Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott as the starters. Damontae Kazee and Miles Killebrew will serve as the only reserves on the roster.

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Botched plays cost Quez Watkins spot on Steelers roster

Watkins struggled in the preseason and faced plenty of competition to make the team.

According to NFL reporter Matt Lombardo, the Pittsburgh Steelers are releasing wide receiver Quez Watkins. The Steelers and all 32 NFL teams have until the end of business on Tuesday to get their initial rosters down to 53.

Given the depth issues the Steelers have wide receiver, we wondered if the mistakes Watkins made in the preseason would cost him an opportunity. Watkins struggled in games but was typically reported to redeem himself at practice.

With Watkins out, this gives Dez Fitzpatrick an excellent shot to make the 53-man roster. Normally the Steelers keep five receivers on the active roster but could opt for six this year.

If the Steelers keep six receivers this year our prediction would be George Pickens, Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III, Roman Wilson, Dez Fitzpatrick and Scotty Miller.

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