4 free agents Steelers could use before training camp

For years, Jurrell Casey was Tennessee’s version of Cam Heyward

Before you get mad at me for making the comparison Cam Heyward has played 149 games in his career. Casey has played 142 games himself. Heyward has 7 more sacks than Casey, while Casey has 56 more tackles than Heyward. Casey has never had the chance to play for a true contender and would probably take a discount at this point in his career to do so.

The Steelers are set with their top 3 on the interior. Stephon Tuitt, Tyson Alualu, and Cam Heyward are a 3 headed monster on the inside. Casey would easily make it 4. The gap between the 3 isn’t very large. Yet, we saw what losing Alualu for a couple of games did to the inside of our defense in 2020. I think his loss was as big if not bigger than the loss of Bud Dupree with the torn ACL. There is such a massive dropoff in talent between our top 3 and everyone behind them it makes me nervous.

Both Heyward and Alualu are getting older, while Tuitt has an injury history. Having an extra force to lower everyone’s snap count would lead to them being fresher, and hopefully healthier with a 17 game regular season. The Steelers already know about their lack of quality depth here. This was made evident when they opted to take Isaiah Loudermilk instead of any cornerback in the draft.

Casey wasn’t bad in Denver and his play would likely improve in a rotational role. This move helps fortify our championship-caliber defense after such a tough offseason.