3 centers who could replace Steelers’ Maurkice Pouncey if he retires

Austin Blythe, Los Angeles Rams

Switching over to the free agency side of things, we come across Austin Blythe, who is an underrated center, to say the least. A late selection in the 2016 NFL Draft out of Iowa, Blythe has indisputably exceeded expectations within his few years with the Rams.

Now while all of this is well and good, what should turn some heads in Pittsburgh is that his latest contract with Los Angeles is expiring, which subsequently leaves him as an unrestricted free agent. And being such a dark horse on the field hopefully makes him rather negotiable in terms of payment, as he is not particularly used to having an abundance of money shoveled his way. This could make his addition more plausible in the eyes of Steelers management.

But this move will also have to rely on the Rams’ chances of putting Blythe in the back of their minds. Luckily, the dilemmas that they currently have staring them down helps make that very much possible. For example, Los Angeles is a defensive team, to put it lightly. Their defense is consistently elite, headlined by names like Aaron Donald. So keeping that side of the ball up to par is going to be a predominant objective for them. Secondly, rumors have been circulating about the relationship between starting quarterback Jared Goff and head coach Sean McVay. So how much attention could the team possibly be paying to a guy who is not even the biggest name on the offensive line?

Austin Blythe is young, affordable, has multiple years of NFL experience, and is currently at risk of drifting away from a franchise that likely is not giving him the credit that he deserves anyway. it’s not like he would be downgrading by coming over to Pittsburgh. Both the Steelers and the Rams are playoff powers right now. All he would have to worry about is a change of weather.