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Top Offseason Needs of the Pittsburgh Steelers
2016 Season Recap
Another playoff meeting against the Patriots, another heartbreaking playoff loss for the Steelers. Pittsburgh’s defeat at the AFC Championship Game has now given the team a disappointing 2-9 record lifetime against a Brady-led New England squad, further reinforcing the notion that it’s still one chess move behind the conference’s best franchise.
All things considered, though, the Steelers do have a lot of terrific pieces to finally get over that dreaded Pats hump and return to the Super Bowl next season. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have any holes in the roster that needs to be fixed, primarily on the defensive end.
Top Free Agency Needs
With $42 million in cap space, Pittsburgh has just enough resources to go out and splurge in free agency. But first of all, the team must do whatever it takes to re-sign star running back Le’Veon Bell – be it with a franchise tag or a hefty long-term deal.
Despite some off-field issues and health concerns (side note: would the Steelers have made it to the Super Bowl if he didn’t get hurt early in the AFC title game?), it has become apparent that Bell is a top-3 back in a league that is scarce in elite rushers. Bell’s asking price is probably going to be through the roof, but his team should still have enough leg room to make a splash in the market.
Having said that, the Steelers’ top priority in free agency should be to nab an elite pass rusher. Soon-to-be 39-year-old James Harrison, who led the team with five sacks last season, is definitely not going to be around for much longer and is in line for an age-related decline. Fortunately, Pittsburgh has a rather wide selection of outside linebackers to choose from in free agency that fit well with its 3-4 scheme, namely the likes of Melvin Ingram (Chargers), Chandler Jones (Cardinals) and Nick Perry (Packers).
Inside linebacker is another weakness in Pittsburgh’s D, considering that unrestricted free agent Lawrence Timmons has regressed rather significantly and is nowhere near playing up to his current $9.5 million price tag. The Steelers should let Timmons go and replace him with someone like New England’s Dont’a Hightower, whose value on the market is just slightly more costly than Timmons’ current annual pay. With this move, the Steelers would be hitting two birds with one stone: solidify the ILB position as well as take a key cog away from the Pats’ winning machine.
Top Draft Needs
If Tom Brady’s dissection of the Steelers’ secondary in the AFC title game wasn’t enough evidence, depth at cornerback is also a top priority for the Steelers. They could easily re-sign restricted free agent Ross Cockrell, but having more options in the roster to run out nickel formations more often is too imperative for their D. We’re optimistic with what we’ve seen from Cockrell’s performance last season, but it wouldn’t hurt the team if it could steal someone like Washington’s Sidney Jones or Florida’s Quincy Wilson with its late first-round pick.
Getting a competent backup behind Bell in the backfield is also a must, especially given how DeAngelo Williams isn’t getting any younger and Fitzgerald Toussaint not being as dependable as expected. As such, Oklahoma’s pair of running backs in Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine are both attractive options in the middle rounds of the draft that the Steelers may want to consider.
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