The Steelers had a huge pool of free agents this offseason, and while they did their best to replace them, these four will be duly missed in 2021.
While free agency has become a more active time for the Steelers than it had been in recent years, this offseason was a tough one. The team had a handful of starters whose contracts expired, and they had little in terms of cap space to prevent them from leaving. While the team did the best that they could to replace these players, that doesn’t mean their departures won’t hurt. These four players, in particular, stand out as the ones the Steelers will miss the most in 2021.
Steelers cut Steven Nelson
The cornerback room was in a precarious position heading into the offseason. With the long-term future of Joe Haden up in the air and some of the other quality players at the position set to be free agents, Steven Nelson was a stabilizing force in the cornerback room. Then, the reports came out that the team was looking to trade Nelson before it eventually came out that the Steelers just outright cut him.
Now, the Steelers do have his replacement in Cameron Sutton on the roster, but there are still questions at slot cornerback. Had the team retained Nelson, Sutton could have been the primary slot cornerback and this group would have remained strong heading into 2021. Now, there are some serious questions with this position and a real chance for severe regression here in 2021. Nelson was a quality player and a good starter, so cutting him this season was a major blow.
Steelers watch Bud Dupree head south
Bud Dupree is one of the better success stories that this team has seen in recent years. While his first few seasons were on the slower side, he finally exploded the past couple of seasons and became one of the better edge rushers in the league. While his athleticism was always there, it seems like he finally developed a quality move set to get after the quarterback.
While it was always unlikely that the Steelers would retain Dupree, that doesn’t make his loss any easier to deal with. Sure, Alex Highsmith looked good last season playing in reserve and eventually in place of Dupree after he was lost for the season, but pass rusher is a difficult position to be great at. Unless Highsmith takes a gigantic leap forward, the pass rush on this defense will regress.
Dupree developed into a fear player across from T.J. Watt, and with that threat no longer there, it could allow teams to focus more on Watt. At the very least, the other outside linebacker is more of a question mark than it has been the past few years. Highsmith flashed, but he lacks the experience that Dupree had. It was impossible to bring him back for another season, but that doesn’t make losing him any easier.
Steelers Alejandro Villanueva joins the Ravens
Alejandro Villanueva got a really unfair wrap while he was with the Steelers. The former undrafted veteran transformed himself, learned an entirely new position, and became a quality starter for a competitive team. Was he a perfect player? No, but his pass blocking was good and he was serviceable in the run game. While there are better options than him in the league, the team doesn’t currently possess one on their roster.
As of now, Chukwuma Okorafor will be his replacement at left tackle, and while he wasn’t horrible last year, he is certainly a drop-off from the player that Villanueva was. Zach Banner has some potential, but he is still a question mark considering he only started half a game last season for the Steelers. Losing Villanueva this offseason made this line worse overall. That isn’t something you want with an aging quarterback likely in his final season.
Worse yet, Villanueva heads to the division rival Ravens, who acquired him after trading Orlando Brown to the Chiefs. If that wasn’t enough, the Ravens played the comp formula perfectly, waiting until the deadline passed for players to factor in, so the Steelers won’t receive a pick next year despite losing their starting left tackle. This new-look offensive line has some intriguing players on it, but it still lost a good quality starting left tackle.
Steelers can’t afford Mike Hilton
This is easily one of the Steelers’ worst moves of the offseason, as Mike Hilton was one of the more dynamic players in the Steelers’ secondary. If just straight up losing him wasn’t enough, he signed with the rival Bengals and his salary was below what most expected him to get. Considering the huge question mark that the team has at slot cornerback right now, having Hilton would be huge in this secondary remaining a great unit.
The only caveat that is comforting in losing Hilton is that he is a unique player that has to be played properly. While he is adequate in coverage, his real strength is playing downhill against the run and blitzing the quarterback. If the Bengals don’t play to his strengths, he may struggle more so than he did with the Steelers. That said, that does little to answer the remaining questions the team has at the slot cornerback position in 2021.
Hilton ascended the ranks in a compelling underdog story, and he was due to get paid. While it seemed unlikely that the team could have afforded him, the opposite proved to be true. Playing him twice a year will also prove to be unappealing, especially if the Bengals play him to his strengths. Hilton was one of the team’s toughest losses from the offseason, and his high quality of play will surely be missed.
The Steelers lost quite a few players this offseason, and these four will be the toughest losses to overcome. They all were high-quality starters for the team, and two of them now figure to benefit direct rivals. With some of the potential replacements still major question marks for these individuals, expect to feel these losses regularly throughout the 2021 season.