The Steelers 2023 season was filled with highs and lows, and while the team found a way to sneak into the playoffs, there was a lot to dislike about this team. In particular, quite a few players proved to play poorly, and as a result, this team was limited by their performance.
This trio is in a special class though, as they were singled out each and every week for their poor play. Each player is on a second or third contract as well, meaning that not only was their play detrimental, but so were their cap hits. Here are the three Steelers that no one will miss during the 2024 season.
Steelers saw Levi Wallace regress
The Levi Wallace was a sensible one on paper. The Steelers were looking to add some starter-capable bodies to their cornerback room, so they signed him and Ahkello Witherspoon to identical deals in hopes of providing this team with cornerbacks number two and three.
Wallace proved to be the better fit, and he saw the second year of his contract. Frankly, Wallace was a refreshing player in his first season. He had a career year and was an extremely steady presence for this secondary.
This year was the opposite. Teams were picking on Wallace from the start of the season, and while his play leveled off and got slightly better, he never got close to the highs of his 2022 season. With his contract expiring, it seems likely that he won’t be retained.
While cornerback is a questionable position right now on this team, Wallace doesn’t look like a solution. From his best season to one of his worst, cutting bait with Wallace seems like the best bet. I don’t think the team will miss him much in 2024.
Steelers got nothing out of Mitch Trubisky
The Steelers signed Mitch Trubisky to be their bridge quarterback after Ben Roethlisberger retired. He looked like a disaster early in his Pittsburgh career though, and the inevitable happened sooner in the year when they sent Trubisky to the bench in favor of Kenny Pickett.
The Steelers reworked Trubisky’s deal last offseason, seemingly making him a high-end backup for the roster. This was a good deal on paper. Trubisky was an experienced name and his deal paid him fairly for what he could seemingly provide as a backup.
When Pickett went down with injury this past year though, the Steelers fell apart. Trubisky looked even worse than he did in his first season, and his poor play eventually caused him to be benched. Now, he is an overpaid third quarterback and shouldn’t be a part of the long-term or short-term plans of this team.
You sign a player like Trubisky to be your backup in hopes that if you lose your starter, your offense can scrape together for a few weeks and remain competitive. Somehow, despite an already putrid offense, this unit regressed with Trubisky at the helm. The Steelers could keep him around on the roster, but one has to imagine that he will be cut given his putrid play, and no one should miss him in 2024.
Steelers can get out of Chukwuma Okorafor’s deal
The story of Chukwuma Okorafor is a frustrating one for the Steelers. Taken in the third round as a developmental prospect, he struggled to find his footing and was famously benched in favor of then-journeyman Zach Banner. Injuries forced him back into a starting role, and he was the definition of a slightly below-average tackle.
That didn’t stop the Steelers from inking him to a multi-year deal worth nearly 10 million a season. The deal was puzzling at the time, and it didn’t age well. It goes to show you just how overvalued offensive tackles are, as even middling ones get paid handsomely.
While Okorafor was rarely outright terrible, his play was never that good. His run blocking, in particular, was lacking and he could hold his own in pass blocking when he had some help. The expensive contract was hard to justify though.
The Steelers benched him for negative comments about the team, and they persevered with Dan Moore and Broderick Jones. While one could argue that Okorafor is a slightly better tackle than Moore, at his cost, that is easily negated. Neither side seems to want to remain together, and a split is likely before the new league year in March. Ideally, this allows the team to invest in an upgrade, meaning we won’t be missing Okorafor much next year.