Even if the Steelers re-sign some of our own free agents, we may want to look at signing some ‘outside’ help
Free agency will commence shortly. The Steelers will have some work to do to free up enough cap space to either sign our own pending free agents or sign free agents from other teams to supplement or replace players we may lose in free agency. Three players whom we may want to look at signing are Marcus Mariota, Deone Bucannon, and Andrew Billings.
I know what you’re thinking. Mariota, Bucannon, and Billings aren’t exactly ‘marquee’ free agents. I would agree with you; however, the aforementioned pending free agents are the type of free agents the Steelers typically sign and have historically signed.
So I go back to the ‘dark’ days of ‘Plan B’ free agency, which was essentially the precursor to the free agency we know and love or hate today. During that era of free agency, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Steelers would not be able to retain our own free agents as we just couldn’t seem to make competitive offers.
Fast forward to the free agency that exists today. The Steelers have made a concerted effort to re-sign our own free agents, assuming they are deemed as being part of our future plans. Some pending free agents are simply not worth trying to re-sign, thus they are allowed to ‘test the waters’.
One thing remains constant in free agency. The Steelers will sign free agents from other teams to either supplement or replace players who have departed via free agency. With that in mind, let’s look at why the Steelers may want to look at signing Mariota.