LB Mark Barron
To be fair, Mark Barron wasn’t nearly as bad of signing for the Steelers as Johnny Holton, but he was disappointing for other reasons. If you recall, Mark Barron was signed before April when Pittsburgh ultimately traded up for linebacker Devin Bush. If they had to do it over again, there’s no way Pittsburgh would have made the same move.
Though Barron was able to stay healthy for all but one game in 2019, his two-year $12 million deal seemed outrageously expensive for a player of his status. Barron graded out as a poor player in 2018 before joining the team and paying $6 million per year to a bad linebacker who was about to turn 30 seemed like a mistake.
While Barron had some solid games in his short stint with Pittsburgh, he struggled in coverage and his effort was in question more often than not. At times, he appeared to be jogging to the play instead of hunting for the ball carrier. Though he was a decent depth player for the team, Barron’s name was called too often last season, as the underwhelming linebacker played 69 percent of defensive snaps for Pittsburgh last year, according to Pro Football Reference.
Though there’s no guarantee that a player like Ulysees Gilbert could be better than Barron for the Steelers right away, at least he’s a fraction of the price.