The Steelers have brought in a couple of new talents for the offense as well as keep some of their own. Here’s how they have helped themselves in free agency.
The Steelers were busy on day one of the legal tampering period as they have deals in place QB Mitchell Trubisky and G/C Mason Cole, as well as a day two-player who the Steelers also have a contract agreement with.
Pittsburgh re-signed Chukwuma Okorafor to a 3year/$29.25 million deal as well as others like Montravius Adams and Arthur Maulet. The Steelers are also rumored to re-sign CB Ahkello Witherspoon, which is a signing that needs to happen.
Mitchell Trusbisky was the first player the Steelers had a deal with in free agency. Trubisky will be playing under a 2 year/$14 million deal with incentives that could reach a total of $27 million. That is very different from rumors of a 2 year/$30 million deal before the official numbers were released.
Trubisky is 27 years old and coming off of a season where he barely saw the field with Buffalo under Josh Allen. This signing was difficult to swallow after hearing rumors that the Steelers were going after quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson, but Mitch isn’t as bad as the narrative says he is.
Trusbisky has a QB record of 29-21 through 50 games as a starter under Matt Nagy in Chicago, in that span he has 10,652 passing yards, 64 TDs, 38 INTs, and a career completion percentage of 64.1%. He doesn’t usually launch the ball down the field a lot, but when he does he hits his guys right in the breadbasket. He took Chigaco to the playoffs twice and made the Pro Bowl in 2018.
Another thing that should make you feel good about this signing is a couple of players started to rally around Mitch on social media like Pat Freiermuth. Nobody did that with Mason. Trubisky is a bridge QB for now and if the Steelers have enough success over the next two seasons, he might just stick around for another few years.
Steelers beef up the OL
The Steelers have enjoyed targeting offensive lineman so far, James Daniels and Mason Cole have found themselves in agreement to sign with the Steelers. Daniels agreed on a 3-year/$26.5 million deal and Mason Cole agreed on a 3 year/$15.75 million deal, both are under 26 years old.
James Daniels is an absolute mauler in the run game and with Najee Harris in Pittsburgh’s backfield, they need all the run blocking they can get for the Alabama product. Mason Cole is also a good run blocking lineman and has blocked for Dalvin Cook and David Johnson, so Cole must do good work considering the numbers these guys have put up.
Mason and James gave up a combined 5 sacks last year, Daniels played 1,121 snaps while Cole played 471. Mason Cole has played 900+ snaps twice in his career and he allowed 2 sacks each of those years, so he should be a starter. The Steelers have done their job with the offense, now it’s time to add a linebacker, d-lineman, or a corner to this team and draft some talent and depth.
The Jaguars recently cut LB Myles Jack, he would be a great fit with Devin Bush. He is a 26-year-old tackling machine who can get behind the line of scrimmage and also get to the QB.
The Steelers can save $8 million if they cut Joe Schobert and that can open room to bring in another Jaguars linebacker. Hopefully, the Steelers aren’t done in free agency and have a few more tricks up their sleeve.