Despite making nine selections in the draft, the Steelers would still be wise to call up these five veterans before training camp begins.
The Steelers entered the draft with a plethora of needs on both sides of the football, and while the nine selections they made should go a long way in filling those holes, there is still some work to be done. The free-agent market has seen most of the top talent depart, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t valuable contributors waiting to be signed. With the team hoping to make a super bowl push this season, here are five free agents that would make sense for the Steelers to sign.
Jordan Dangerfield
This one is puzzling to me, as the Steelers don’t have a lot of depth at safety and Jordan Dangerfield is one of the most consistent special teams players in the league. While the team certainly wouldn’t want Dangerfield to see significant snaps on defense, he would be a more capable option than rookie Tre Norwood would be right now. Considering his price tag can’t be much more than the minimum, the team would be wise to bring him back.
While no one will mistake Dangerfield for a top reserve on the defense, he does enough to make his contract worth it. Add in his great work on special teams and you have a player that has immense value to the team. Perhaps he is waiting on a better deal to come up, but it doesn’t seem like his market is that great right now. The Steelers should be offering up a veteran minimum contract to his agent to bring him back.
Brian Poole
While the Steelers did an admirable job of filling their needs in the draft, one position was sorely overlooked. Cornerback quickly went from a strength to a weakness this offseason when Steven Nelson was cut, and as of now, that unit didn’t get any better through the draft. The most promising player added was potential slot cornerback Shakur Brown, but he was signed as an undrafted free agent and isn’t a lock to make it to training camp let alone start on defense.
Brian Poole still remains on the free agency market though, and he is an established slot corner that the Steelers have to be considering right now. While a little older, Poole has become one of the better slot options in the league and is easily the most established slot corner available on the market now. He can play the run and he had his best year in coverage last season. At the very least, he could add another capable body to a relatively weak group.
While Cameron Sutton is set to take on an expanded role, the Steelers only have two experienced and trusted options at corner right now. It seems safe to say James Pierre will make the leap to starter on the outside in sub-packages, but he is unproven at this point. Poole would add another veteran to the group, providing depth and slot capabilities if on the roster. The team needs to make a move here, and Pool could be the best solution.
Luke Stocker
Had the Steelers not grabbed Pat Freiermuth in the second round of the draft, this slot would be occupied by Jesse James as that move would make too much sense. It seems unlikely that James willingly signs to a team that has their top two tight ends though, thus I think he ultimately lands elsewhere. That said, the Steelers could still use an improvement in their tight end depth chart as their number three spot doesn’t have much talent right now.
Luke Stocker has never been much of a receiving threat, but he has developed into one of the best blocking tight ends in the league. For a team that doesn’t need a contributor at tight end given their top two options, landing an established blocker like Stocker would be the best-case scenario. He would come in during run-heavy sets and short-yardage work to help get this run game back on track.
While the Steelers may just let the better of their training camp hands claim the third and final tight end role, adding an established veteran like Stocker for the minimum would shore up that spot. He can contribute as an additional lineman essentially, and that has immense value for the team right now.
John Simon
Out of all five names on this list, this move seems like the most obvious for the team to make. Edge depth was a huge need in the draft, and while Quincy Roche was a great value pick, banking on a sixth-round pick to be the top rotational option for the team is optimistic. Cassius Marsh was resigned, but he showed last year that the less he plays on defense is for the better.
Sitting on the market just waiting for the Steelers to call is John Simon, formally of the Patriots, and him being added would fill a huge need. Simon is used to playing edge, has been productive as a rotational starter for years, and can play special teams. While his age is starting to show, he would be a valuable addition to the roster.
Even if the team is so bullish on Roche that they make him the top backup, Simon would still be an improvement over Marsh. The fact that he is such a regular contributor on special teams makes him more valuable to the team than Justin Houston or Melvin Ingram as well, considering those guys would only contribute on defense. Simon is a good all-around backup and adding him before camp is a no-brainer move.
Bobby McCain
As stated earlier in this piece, the secondary is one of, if not the, weakest groups on the depth chart right now. With depth needs at safety and potentially a starter at corner, getting a player with some versatility would be a good move. The Dolphins recently cut long-time starter Bobby McCain, and he could be just what the Steelers need.
Now, McCain has made the move more full-time to safety, but he started off as a cornerback with both inside and outside flexibility. It was apparent early on that he needed to play inside more, and he had decent success there before moving to safety. For the Steelers, he could be penciled in to compete for the starting slot corner role while also being the top backup safety.
While an option like Poole is a slot-only option, McCain can play almost everywhere in the secondary besides outside cornerback. His versatility would make him valuable at multiple different secondary spots and his experience in the slot would give him an instant path to starting. His biggest drawback would be cost, as most of the options on this list would likely play for the minimum, but McCain may want a little more. That said, the ability and versatility he provides would be worth it.
The Steelers did an admirable job filling their needs on offense in the draft. That said, this roster is still riddled with holes that will need to be filled. These five players are currently still free agents, and each one would make sense for the team to bring in. Keep their names in mind as training camp gets closer.