Steelers to be more aggressive in free agency

In recent years the Pittsburgh Steelers have been relatively conservative when it comes to chasing free agents. That all may be changing soon.

Last offseason the Steelers didn’t make major moves for players on the market. The big names like Ndamukong Suh signed elsewhere while Pittsburgh’s front office was content to do small signings. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Michael Vick and DeAngelo Williams were the only really notable ones.

That continued a trend that has been going for several years now. The Steelers have not been very aggressive at all in chasing free agent targets, but times change.

According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Art Rooney II says that the Steelers now have the cap space to address their biggest need:

“We certainly made progress on defense and got better as the year went on, but I think we all agree we need to be better in general on pass defense… obviously, we’ve got to look at some opportunities this offseason both in terms of free agency and the draft. It’s something we just have to keep working on.”

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That most likely indicates the Steelers will actively seek to upgrade the secondary by signing one of the marquee free agents out there.

Earlier this week I wrote that their number one target should be Josh Norman. However, his price will be steep and the competition for his services will be fierce if the Panthers really let him test the market.

There are a handful of very intriguing names that will become available on March 15th. Here’s a brief run down of some safeties and corners that Pittsburgh should consider:

Eric Weddle

Leon Hall

Sean Smith

Prince Amukamara

Eric Berry

Walter Thurmond

Next: Steelers meet with QB prospect

The Steelers don’t have a laundry list of personnel needs to fill. Right now Vegas has them tied with the Seahawks and the Patriots as having the best odds of winning next year’s Super Bowl.

A few small tweaks and additions in the secondary could be all they need to get there.