Re-grading the Colbert’s 2019 Steelers offseason moves
By Andrew Falce
In house moves:
The Steelers had a decent cap situation last year since Le’Veon Bell sat out the year meaning they recouped his cap hit since he never signed his contract. The team used that space to help retain a lot of their veterans who were set to hit the market. Most notable of these were: Ramon Foster, Anthony Chickillo, Jordan Berry, Eli Rogers, and Dan McCullers.
As of now, only two of those five remain with the team. Rodgers was cut before the season, Chickillo was just recently released, and Foster retired (although all signs pointed to him getting cut had he not). That makes these retentions pretty minimal, as the only remaining players are an average punter and a backup defender who saw all of 63 defensive snaps. None of these contracts were damaging, but most of them didn’t live up to what the team likely wanted.
Where the Steelers really made some noise was who they got rid of and let walk. Bell, who had sat out the entire season, ended up signing with the Jets for 4-years at 52.5 million dollars. He had just over 1000 total yards and only scored four times with the Jets last year.
Even worse was the Antonio Brown situation. He was sent to Oakland for their 3rd and 5th round picks, a trade that was initially panned by the media. Brown ended up self-destructing, was cut by the Raiders, signed by the Patriots, and then cut once again. The fact that Colbert got anything for him was a plus, and a 3rd and 5th don’t seem like bad compensation looking back.