This is The Gridiron Review’s Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 Offseason Team Breakdown. We provide you with all things you need to know about the Steelers heading into FA and the draft. We also provide our thoughts on the needs of the team and how we think they can be addressed!
Pittsburgh Steelers 2022 Record: 9-8
Pittsburgh Steelers Salary Cap(According to Spotrac): $611,113
Notable Free Agents(According to Spotrac):
- Benny Snell Jr., RB
- Derek Watt, FB
- Miles Boykin, WR
- Steven Sims, WR
- Zach Gentry, TE
- Jessie Davis, OL
- Larry Ogunjobi, DL
- Tyson Alualu, DL
- Chris Wormley, DL
- Devin Bush, LB
- Robert Spillane, LB
- Marcus Allen, LB/S
- Cam Sutton, CB
- James Pierre, CB
- Terrell Edmunds, S
Team Needs: WR, OL, DL, LB, CB, SS
3 Free Agent Targets(In No Order):
- Taylor Lewan, OT
- Will Hernandez, OG
- Sean Murphy-Bunting, CB
Pittsburgh Steelers First Round Pick(s): Pick 17
3 Draft Prospect Fits/Targets:
- Jalin Hyatt, WR, Tennessee
- Peter Skoronski, OT/G, Northwestern
- Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State
Our Steelers Ideal Offseason Plans/Thoughts:
- The Steelers missed the playoffs for the first time in a few years. It’s honestly quite baffling that the Steelers have such limited cap space as they have a ton of young players.
- The Steelers WR room is pretty good. They have a strong slot with Diontae Johnson and a budding WR1 in George Pickens(who needs much more targets than he got this year). The Steelers could use a strong WR2 candidate. Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt could be a nice fit here. He will bring the speed that the Steelers WR room is lacking.
- The Steelers need to address the offensive line. They started last year with the addition of C Mason Cole and OG James Daniels, but more work needs to be done. Recently released OT Taylor Lewan and FA OG Will Hernandez scream Pittsburgh. They have a “nastiness” and physicality to them that make them feel like AFC North players. If the Steelers want to address it in the draft, look for Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski as a name to watch.
- The Steelers defensive line seemed much improved from last season to this season. It definitely helps when your players are able to stay healthy for the most part. The issue now is that three key pieces are set to hit FA. Unless they have a plan to hit defensive line in FA or the draft, they should prioritize keeping what worked. Alualu and Wormley should be reasonable to re-sign, the only one to worry about financially is Ogunjobi who is a proven vet.
- The Steelers have a strong OLB duo of TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith. Outside of them they have Malik Reed who they traded for from Denver, but he is a FA. They also just signed Quincy Roche to a futures contract. Regardless, the pass rush struggled without Watt, and they need to bring in a high-end backup.
- As it sits right now the Steelers ILB room is actually in a really good place. Myles Jack played a really good first year in Pittsburgh; however rumor has it he could be a cut/trade candidate(the way LBs get tossed around like they aren’t important nowadays is mind boggling). If they really do end up getting rid of Jack, this room goes right back to being a disaster because Spillane, Bush, and Marcus Allen are all FAs also. Assuming you keep Jack, you should re-sign Spillane and Allen. They bring two different skill sets that you can rotate through in different packages, and should be relatively cheaper options. Bush seems like he’s going to have a pretty active market this year, and it’s hard to imagine the Steelers have him as a guy they’re handing a blank check to. If they do get rid of Jack, you are going to need to address this room in some way or another. The FA LB class is strong, but you aren’t getting any of the top guys cheap. If you get lucky, maybe Arkansas’ Drew Sanders falls to you. Getting rid of Jack could create more problems than it actually fixes.
- The Steelers seem to be completely content ignoring the fact that they need a legitimate CB1. They play Amari Cooper, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Rashod Bateman twice a year. Levi Wallace, William Jackson, Ahkello Witherspoon are all good pieces in a CB room, but none of the above are CB1. The Steelers need to make a splash at CB with not a ton of cap space. With a few fairly big names on the CB market(Bradberry, Murphy, and Peters to name a few) Sean Murphy-Bunting could be a name to watch here. He’s not the biggest name on the board, but could be the CB1 on this team and could be signed for a reasonable price. If the Steelers want to address it in the draft, watch for Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr. Pittsburgh has a history of drafting in-state players and I don’t expect it to change anytime soon.
- The Steelers may also need a SS with Terrell Edmunds a FA, but it’s extremely hard to imagine they don’t just re-sign Edmunds again.