The Steelers headed into the NFL offseason with the goal in mind to improve upon the team that made it to the AFC Championship Game.
There’s no way a team returns 100% back from one year to the next it is important to keep continuity with certain position groups that have been dependable and productive. That’s why Pittsburgh wasted no time in securing long snapper Greg Warren and place kicker Chris Boswell for the future.
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Greg Warren was signed to a one-year contract on February 2nd and the following day inked kicker Chris Boswell to a one year deal with the team. Punter Jordan Berry is already under contract through the next season so the specialists are all signed and accounted for.
Fullback Roosevelt Nix has already been re-signed by the team to a one-year deal, but who he’ll be paving the way for in the backfield is still up in the air. Le’Veon Bell and DeAngelo Williams are both set to become free agents next month.
Pittsburgh did release cornerback Justin Gilbert, who they traded a sixth-round pick in the 2018 draft to Cleveland for last August. Gilbert was supposed to provide depth to the secondary but he played almost exclusively on special teams and failed to make an impact.
Gilbert has cleared waivers and the former eighth overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft is now free to sign with any other team that cares to wait for him to get it together.
The Steelers’ list of free agents has some notable names such as Bell and Williams but also Markus Wheaton, Landry Jones, Shamarko Thomas, Jarvis Jones, Lawrence Timmons, Cody Wallace, Ricardo Mathews and James Harrison.
Harrison, Timmons and Bell have all made public expressions of desires to stay in Pittsburgh and, for once, the team actually has some salary cap room to work with unlike recent years. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler estimates the team has a cushion of $30+ million in cap space for free agency and the draft.
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Even if the majority of the free agents are re-signed that doesn’t look to be a boring offseason at all.