4 early offseason predictions for the Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers have some areas that need to be addressed this offseason. Here are four moves Pittsburgh will likely make in the coming months.

After a 2019 season that began and ended with three straight losses, the Steelers have some figuring out to do this offseason. Bud Dupree’s potential contract extension has been a hot topic in Pittsburgh since the season ended, and Art Rooney II recently reiterated his intent to get a deal done with the edge rusher.

Outside of Dupree’s contract negotiations, there are plenty of other areas of concern for the Steelers. The offense could use a good bolstering, but money is extremely limited. As a result, several players will undoubtedly get the boot this offseason to clear up salary cap space.

Here are four moves I anticipate the Steeles making this offseason:

A franchise tag for Bud Dupree

At the end of the day, Dupree knows what his worth is on the open market, and the Steelers will have a hard time agreeing to terms. A deal is not impossible, but Pittsburgh’s best offer will worse than what Dupree could get in a bidding war.

The Steelers know their Super Bowl window is quickly closing, and they would love to keep their defensive core together in Ben Roethlisberger’s final years. Because of this, I think the franchise tag is the most likely solution.

Anthony Chickillo gets released

If there is one move that seems like a clear and obvious no-brainer for the Steelers this offseason, it’s cutting edge defender, Anthony Chickillo. The former fifth-round draft choice back in 2015 is set to be the 12th highest-paid player on the team, and Pittsburgh could save exactly $5 million by letting him go this offseason. With just 2.5 sacks over his last 27 games, there is no reason to keep Chickillo around any longer.

Steelers bring in a tight end

Though Pittsburgh is 30th in projected cap space heading into the offseason, there is plenty of reason to believe they could be bringing in a new face at tight end. The Steelers may try to get an extension done with Nick Vannett (an unrestricted free agent this year). Meanwhile, Vance McDonald’s unreasonably high cap hit makes him a candidate to be cut this offseason.

Even if both tight ends are retained, they graded out as the leagues worst one-two tight end pairing last season, according to Pro Football Focus. Pittsburgh could look for help here in 2020.

Mark Barron gets cut

Mark Barron had some good games for the Steelers in 2019, but was inconsistent more often than not and left a lot to be desired in pass coverage. Though Pittsburgh is already thin at linebacker, Barron is set to make over $8.1 million in 2020 (the 9th largest cap hit on the team), and the Steelers would save $5.25 million with his release. This seems like an easy decision.

There are still a lot of questions about which direction Pittsburgh will elect to go this offseason and how they will choose to spend their limited money. However, these four moves seem inevitable for a team against the cap trying to compete for a championship right now.