3 remaining free agent safeties the Steelers need to sign (and 2 to avoid)

Doesn’t make sense for Steelers: Justin Simmons

Easily the biggest name on this list, there has been a lot of speculation that the Steelers would be making a run at the former All-Pro safety. On paper, this makes some sense. Justin Simmons is coming off another strong season in Denver, and he has been viewed as one of the league's top safeties for the past seven seasons. Pairing him with Fitzpatrick would be a death blow to teams.

That isn’t the case in reality. While not a completely devalued position, there is a strong trend of safety play not being the most important factor in a defense's success. While they haven’t gone the way of the running back quite yet, this trend was a major factor in the safety market this offseason. You had a lot of top names get cut, and other names struggled to land long-term deals, leading to a saturated group.

Simmons is arguably the best of the group, but that will likely mean he still expects to get paid well. With Fitzpatrick already on his own mega-deal and the defensive spending continuing to be high, it would be hard to justify inking Simmons to a larger-than-average free-agent contract. There are other needs and that money can be better spent.

While not the death blow, Simmons is also much better deep as a free safety as opposed to playing closer to the line. Like Fitzpatrick, he can do either, but to pay someone that much money to move them out of their best position doesn’t make sense. Because of all of this, I think the team can find a better fit cheaper.