Free agency
For those of you that have tried it, there are some inherent issues with Fanspeak’s manage the cap (mainly that not all free agents are there). That said, this session actually went pretty well, and I’m overall pretty satisfied where this offseason went.
Unfortunately, of my initial “big” targets, only one ended up signing (more on him later). I offered Williams a chance to return to the team, but he was disinterested and wanted far too much money. As well, I went hard after Kelvin Beachum, but he wanted more than 3 million a season and that was too expensive for what would just be a reserve. Finally, I thought Marlon Mack would take a deal close to the minimum to rebuild his value. Alas, a deal could not be worked out with him.
With the big money targets failing to make much noise, I instead turned to some minimum salary options instead. The Steelers landed three of them by way of John Ross, Raekwon McMillian, and everyone’s favorite Le’Veon Bell. All three are cheap depth and could fill various roles. Ross would make sense as a potential slot option while McMillian can serve as a depth linebacker. While no one is a huge fan of Bell, he would be a cheap starting option that could, at worst, be a pass-catching pass.
On to the big signings, and both of them were on the offensive line. After Beachum left for too much money, the Steelers signed veteran D.J. Fluker to be a swing option and depth all over the place for the line. Fluker was drafted as a tackle but has also played a lot at guard recently. His deal, 2-years with 4-million dollars and a 500k signing bonus. This makes his first-year cap hit a measly 1.25 million and he can serve as depth almost everywhere year one.
The big fish was center Nick Easton though, as the Steelers land him on a 2-year deal for 7-million total with a 2-million dollar signing bonus. This gives him a small cap hit of 2 million his first year. The benefit of grabbing an established player like Easton is that he can start this year if the draft isn’t great for the center position. Easton is a cheap fix and will be able to allow a mid-tier rookie to develop before starting.
At the end of this, the Steelers have around 7 million left in cap space. This will go towards extensions in the offseason, the draft class, and the last two players on the 53-man roster. Going into the draft, the biggest needs are a slot receiver, offensive line, and tight end help.