4 best-case scenarios for the Steelers in 2021 free agency
By Andrew Falce
With free agency opening soon, the Steelers will need a few of these best-case scenarios to come to fruition for the team to compete in 2021.
Despite the Steelers likely having limited cap resources in the 2021 offseason, they still could be active players in free agency. No, this won’t be like years past where a big piece is added, but a few small transactions could help build a better roster overall. This team wants to still compete this year, meaning their additions will be key in building a competitive roster. Here are the four best-case scenarios for the Steelers during the 2021 free agency period.
The Steelers top free agents get paid
This is going to sound counterintuitive, but one of the best-case scenarios for the Steelers is that their free agents all have hot markets. For the most part, the team can’t afford these guys anyway, so them signing bigger contracts helps the team out long term. The larger the contract, the higher the compensatory value the team will get from them in 2021. At this point, for names like Bud Dupree and JuJu Smith-Schuster, that is the best way the team can still get value from them.
On the flip side, if the market is deflated due to the bad cap situation league-wide and these players are forced to take more middle-of-the-road deals, the Steelers won’t receive as much comp value in 2022. It would be quite the blow to lose all of this talent and receive next to nothing in the future for it. For the players set to be gone anyway, a hot market for them will be a key aid down the road for the team.