5 Players the Steelers should keep in free agency

Dwayne Haskins

This is a player that would have surprised me about a year ago, but he was a guy who proved himself in camp. The Steelers have a history of revamping the career of first-round picks and turning them into effective players for the team.

There is no doubt about the upside of Haskins. In college, he was only a one-year starter but he showed that he had a rocket of an arm

Haskins also proved in camp that he is worth keeping around. They had plenty of competition for a roster spot on the Steelers. It also didn’t hurt that Josh Dobbs suffered a turf toe injury in the final preseason game against the Panthers.

Another factor to like about Haskins is that he is a mobile quarterback. I’m not saying he is Lamar Jackson, but he can move for a guy his size. We know the Steelers like a long quarterback as they have had Ben Roethlisberger under center for the better part of the last two decades.

One thing that is in Haskin’s defense is that he hasn’t had a lot of time to develop in an offense. Being a one-year starter at Ohio State, he hasn’t had a lot of time to develop in an offense.

You could say that is his fault when he was playing in Washington, but that team is a hard place to play. There is an ongoing investigation of that team and there are multiple reports of toxic behavior around that team. It wasn’t a good place for him to succeed.

I think bringing him along slowly is the way to do it with Haskins. I am not guaranteeing in any way that he lives up to his draft potential, but I do think he is someone you keep around and develop.

I think of Landry Jones as an example of a QB who stayed around the system for a while and finally developed and became a contributor as time went on. Haskins has more upside than Landry Jones in my opinion.

I am not saying he is a guarantee to even make the roster, but he is a player to keep around and develop while there is space for him.