3 expiring contracts the Steelers must renew this offseason

The Steelers have many pending free agents this offseason. Here are the four they need to prioritize.

The Steelers had an impressive 12-4 season this year but are looking to right the ship after finishing 1-4 after their 11-0 start. Many players that are here now are scheduled to be free agents in 2021.

The team’s window is closing with Ben Roethlisberger getting closer and closer to the end of his Hall of Fame career. This requires them to make key decisions to keep the team in a good position to continue to be in contention, even after Big Ben eventually retires.

Pittsburgh’s cap situation is going to be their biggest hurdle in keeping any of their outgoing free agents. They are expected to be around $21 million in the negative according to Over The Cap’s Steelers page for 2021.

Pittsburgh will need to restructure their current deals to even get to where they can afford to renew even the cheapest expiring deal. The front office absolutely has to find a way, especially to retain this first player.

Cameron Sutton, CB

Cameron Sutton was a third-round selection in the 2017 draft for the Steelers. He played sparingly in his first two seasons and was mostly a special teamer.

In 2019 and 2020, however, he earned more of a presence on defense and showed he can be a starting nickel corner in the NFL. He started five games in 2020 with Mike Hilton injured early.

He and Hilton are both set to hit the open market in the offseason and the secondary can not afford to lose both. The Steelers will likely need to retain Sutton over Hilton as Hilton will likely command more on the open market but they must retain one of the two at all costs.