6 potential contract extensions Steelers should not give

Vince Williams

Vince Williams has an excellent story. As a former 6th round pick from the 2013 NFL Draft, not only is  Williams the only remaining player from Pittsburgh’s draft class that year, but he has been able to start 69 games for the Steelers and play in 121 in all. But while the physical inside linebacker has been a very good player for the team, his time could be coming to a close.

Devin Bush is set to come back and man the ‘Mack’ linebacker position, and there is a chance the Steelers could cut Vince this offseason thanks to a $7 million cap hit. At this point in his career, Williams is only effective at or behind the line of scrimmage and his ability to move in space has gotten increasingly worse. He is also a big liability in pass coverage at this point in his career.

With Mark Barron on the team in 2019, Williams played just 37 percent of defensive snaps, but that number rose drastically in 2020 with all of the injuries at the inside linebacker position. At this point in his career, Williams is very replaceable, but if the Steelers wanted to keep him around for one more season at a push for the Super Bowl, they can only do so by giving him an extension and pushing some of his money back. This wouldn’t be a wise move.

Every player on this list had a notable role with the team in 2020. While they could slightly improve Pittsburgh’s chances if they stick around in 2021, Pittsburgh needs to start thinking about their future. If this is Ben’s last year, they may not want to tie themselves to these older players long-term.