4 veterans the Steelers could trade away as they begin to rebuild

LB Vince Williams

For being a former sixth-round draft choice, Vince Williams turned out to be quite the pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers, I don’t think anyone envisioned that he would last this long as a starting linebacker. Williams has been extremely healthy throughout his career and has played in 121 games since being drafted by the Steelers in 2013. During this time, Williams developed a reputation as a punishing run defender while proving to be one of the best blitzing linebackers in the league.

However, his time as a starter for the Steelers should be coming to an end soon, and Pittsburgh could look to get out of his contract. According to Over the Cap, Williams is set to be the 8th-highest-paid player on the Steelers this year with a cap hit of just over $7 million. While this number doesn’t seem all that bad, Pittsburgh will be looking for creative ways to clear some cap space this offseason.

Williams is now 31 years old, and there isn’t a lot of sense in keeping him around during a rebuild – especially at that price. Now just a part-time player, the Steelers could see if there is a team out there that would be willing to swap a conditional late-round pick for the veteran linebacker instead of potentially cutting him outright. He won’t be worth much at this point in his career, but it’s worth a try.