Unspectacular free agent signings for Steelers
I loved the Melvin Ingram signing by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sadly, the team didn’t play him as much as he was deserving of seeing the field and Ingram wanted out before the trade deadline this year. I also was supportive of the Steven Nelson free agent signing two years back, and Nelson proved to be a good player for this team.
Outside of these two, I was left scratching my head at most of the free-agent decisions Colbert has made in recent years. Instead of packaging his money together for a few really talented players on the market, Colbert seemed to be content with piecing his money out to get unspectacular players like Eric Ebron, Joe Haeg, Trai Turner, and Arthur Maulet — guys that really don’t make this team any better.
It seems like it has been forever since the Steelers have been able to make a free agent signing for a quality, proven player like Joe Haden. While we can point to finances as the reason why it was Colbert’s decision to backload contracts that have Pittsburgh in this financial state. Other teams have been getting spectacular play out of big free-agent signings, but this is an area where the Steelers have been remarkably weak.
Kevin Colbert is largely responsible for helping this team build Super Bowl rosters in the past and he has still been one of the better general managers in the league, but with poor draft classes, bad trades, and unspectacular free agent signings, it seems that he is starting to run this team into the ground in recent years.