As fans of the Steelers, we can get so focused on our team that we forget about notable players who used to don the black and gold in Pittsburgh. Omar Khan ensured the team did not lose any pivotal pieces during the 2024 free agency period. But retaining players on the roster isn't always as easy as the front office made it look this past offseason.
The Steelers have had some noteworthy departures over the years who have signed with new ballclubs. Now some of these players are two or even three teams removed from their humble beginnings in Pittsburgh.
Several of these players are still going strong while others are merely hoping to hold onto roster spots in 2024. Here are four former Steelers who signed with new teams during the 2024 offseason.
EDGE Bud Dupree
Bud Dupree was the 2015 first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers. After his rookie contract expired, the front office slapped the franchise tag on their pass rusher following an 11.5 sack season in 2019. But the writing was on the walls that 2021 would be Dupree's final season in Pittsburgh.
As T.J. Watt emerged as an NFL superstar, the team couldn't afford to hand out lucrative contracts to a pair of edge defenders at the same time, and Watt clearly wasn't going anywhere.
Dupree inked a massive five-year, $82.5 million deal with the Titans during the 2021 offseason -- a contract that was terminated by Tennessee in 2022. After spending the 2023 season with the Falcons, Dupree signed a two-year deal with the Chargers during the 2024 offseason. The veteran pass rusher will work in a rotation behind Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack in Los Angeles.
QB Joshua Dobbs
Josh Dobbs was a fun player to cover during his time in Pittsburgh. Jokingly nicknamed 'The Passtronaut' thanks to his aerospace engineering major, Dobbs caught the attention of the NFL media when he won back-to-back games for the Minnesota Vikings immediately after being traded from the Arizona Cardinals.
Dobbs came back down to earth (astronaut pun intended) from Week 11 to Week 14 of the 2023 season before being inactive at the end of the year. During the 2024 offseason, Dobbs signed a one-year contract to be the backup quarterback to Brock Purdy on the San Francisco 49ers.
Dobbs has had quite the NFL career journey -- beginning in Pittsburgh and getting traded to Jacksonville before going back to the Steelers. From there, he briefly played for the Browns, Lions, Titans, Cardinals, Vikings, and now 49ers. Dobbs was a former 2017 fourth-round pick and preseason stud of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
S Terrell Edmunds
Many Steelers fans will forever defend Terrell Edmunds as a respectable first-round draft choice by Pittsburgh in 2018, while others will call him one of their biggest roster mistakes of the decade. Edmunds proved to be a serviceable safety for Pittsburgh who could run, tackle, and stay on the field (he missed just two games in his first five seasons with the Steelers).
Fans lobbied for the team to keep Edmunds during the 2023 offseason, but general manager Omar Khan allowed him to hit the market and sign with the Eagles. Following Week 7 of the 2023 season, Edmunds was traded to the Titans.
His stay in Tennessee was short-lived. When the season ended, Edmunds' contract expired and he signed with the Jaguars for the veteran minimum during the 2024 offseason. The former Steelers safety has been treated like anything but a first-round pick throughout his NFL career.
LB Devin Bush
Devin Bush is a name that Steelers fans will want to forget. The 2019 draft choice cost Pittsburgh an arm and a leg to acquire as former general manager, Kevin Colbert, spent a first, second, and future third-round pick to move up and take the Michigan linebacker.
Bush showed flashes early in his Steelers career, but he suffered an ACL tear five games into his second season in 2020 and his game lacked tenacity when he returned to the field. Fans gladly waved goodbye to Bush during the 2023 offseason when he signed with the Seahawks.
In 2024, Bush inked a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns. The disappointing linebacker is proof that teams will continue to give chances to former high draft picks -- even if it hasn't worked out anywhere they have been.
WR Chase Claypool
Steelers fans had added incentive to be excited about Chase Claypool's departure from the team just before the 2022 trade deadline. In return for the underwhelming receiver, Pittsburgh received a second-round pick from the Bears. This later became the top pick of Day 2 in the 2023 NFL Draft and was used to acquire cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
Despite Chicago's investment in the big wide receiver, Claypool could not catch on, and was he traded to Miami after just three games into the 2023 season. Pittsburgh's 2020 second-round pick played the final 9 games of his rookie contract with the Dolphins before signing with the Bills as an unrestricted free agent during the 2024 offseason.