Pittsburgh Steelers smartest offseason move in 2020

Bleacher Report recently wrote an article on the ‘smartest’ offseason moves for each NFL team. Here’s what they had to say about the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers are never a team that really goes hog-wild in the offseason with an array of big moves. Pittsburgh’s brass typically likes to fill out their salary cap by retaining their own players and going cheap in free agency.

However, this doesn’t mean that the Steelers can’t have success by doing this. Under the direction of Mike Tomlin since 2007, Pittsburgh has yet to have a single losing season, and their highest-paid free-agent signing of all-time, in terms of yearly value, was Steven Nelson last season.

Obviously, Nelson was a hit, as he was a thoroughly impressive cover corner in his first season with the team. This offseason, the Steelers made several moves including signing former Colts tight end, Eric Ebron, trading for Ravens defensive tackle, Chris Wormley, and drafting Chase Claypool in the second round.

Recently, Bleacher Report published an article noting every NFL team’s smartest move in the 2020 offseason. Kristopher Knox believed Pittsburgh’s smartest move was signing interior offensive lineman, Stefen Wisniewski. Here’s what Knox had to say about the move:

"The Pittsburgh Steelers’ signing of interior offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski was one of the most under-the-radar moves of the NFL offseason. For the Steelers, though, it was pure brilliance.Pittsburgh lost longtime starting guard Ramon Foster to retirement in the offseason. Wisniewski might not be a long-term replacement, but he is an experienced nine-year veteran who has appeared in 134 NFL contests.Wisniewski provides the Steelers with a capable starting option, and he comes at an absolute bargain. Pittsburgh signed him to a two-year, $2.9 million deal."

Know is apparently very fond of the move the Steelers made for Wisniewski – using terms like ‘pure brilliance’ and ‘absolute bargain’ to describe what the Wisniewski signing means for the Steelers. I don’t totally disagree.

At 31 years old, Wisniewski is no spring chicken in NFL years. However, he does offer a lot of NFL experience and a consistent body in the middle of the Steelers offensive line.

This offseason, Pittsburgh took a blow to their interior unit by losing Ramon Foster to retirement and B.J. Finney to free agency. While Wisniewski won’t be a long-term replacement for Foster at left guard, he comes with experience all along the interior offensive line, and his two-year, $2.9 million deal is a bargain for a player with 103 NFL starts.

It’s still not entirely clear what the Steelers plan to do with their starting offensive line this year, and there are rumors that Matt Feiler could slide from right tackle to left guard. If this is the case than Wisniewski becomes a high-level backup. Either way, the Wisniewski signing is one that should prove to be a good deal for Pittsburgh.