15 Players the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up on way too soon

Chad Brown was another linebacker in the 90s that was better after leaving the Steelers

The black and gold used to have a very strict set of rules for their rookies coming into the league. Most did not find a ton of playing time during their rookie years when it came to their actual positions. That was the same outcome for Chad Brown as he had to earn his starting snaps. He would start games during his rookie year and become the starter in year two.

His second year in Pittsburgh was his best while being under the employment of the Steelers. Brown would struggle some with the following couple of seasons. There was a lot of new talent coming into the fold during the last year with Pittsburgh and the writing was on the wall. Free agency was becoming more evident during the 90s in the NFL and Brown took that route.

After a couple of strong seasons to start his career in the Steel City, Brown quickly started to slow down in production. That seemed to make him on the way out the door but the 1996 season was a great year for Brown before he left the team. He totaled 13 sacks and added over 80 tackles on to his stat sheet. A contract seemed impossible as Pittsburgh was not well known for shelling out major bucks.

That is a shame but the black and gold were seen as cheap at certain points when free agency started to become popularized. Brown went on to play ten more seasons in the NFL, primarily with the Seattle Seahawks and a few years with the New England Patriots. Pittsburgh would have been wise to keep this linebacker around with the quality play that he produced throughout his career.