Steelers need to take a cautious approach to free agency
By Eric Hassel
The Steelers tried to fill the void at Inside Linebacker in consecutive seasons via free agency
In 2018, the Steelers signed Jon Bostic, a free agent ILB who had spent the previous season with the Indianapolis Colts. According to the official website of the Steelers, Bostic signed a two-year deal. He lasted one season with us.
In his lone season, Bostic played in all 16 games, starting 14 of them. In those 16 games, Bostic tallied no INTs, 3 defended passes and 2.5 sacks. He did register 5 tackles for loss. I can only assume that once we traded up to draft Devin Bush in 2019, we felt that Bostic’s veteran presence was no longer required, thus his contract was terminated and he was released.
That lack of veteran presence was not long-lived. In 2019, the Steelers signed Mark Barron to a two-year deal. Some of you may be asking why I am including Barron in the ‘misses’ category. The simple reason is this: Based on his productivity and on his play in 2019, I don’t think he will be with us for the 2020 season.
I could be wrong, obviously, but Barron, presumably, was signed to be the ‘cover LB’. Well, he did not do such a great job in coverage. According to Pro-Football-Reference, Barron was just a complete liability in coverage. He was targeted 71 times while in coverage, allowing 52 completions. That equates to a 73.2% completions against percentage. That is just terrible.
If Barron is released, that will be yet another player who did not see the end of his contract with the Steelers. I don’t know about you, but that’s really not a good trend. It’s akin to telling free agents that you can sign with us, but you may not see it through to the end.